Music / St Georges
Review: Shards, St. Georges
It’s safe to say that choirs are in pretty short supply on the gig circuit. Shards are a relatively new London based contemporary choral group looking to fill that gap. Their debut album, Find Sound, was released last summer on the hip Erased Tapes label. Their music sitting somewhere in the hinterland between late night Radio 3 and the non landfill indie outer reaches of 6 Music. Late Junction meets the Freak Zone.
………………………………
Bristol24/7 relies on your support to fund our independent journalism and social impact projects. Become a member and enjoy exclusive perks from just £5 per month.
is needed now More than ever
………………………………
The interface between electronica and contemporary classical is an interesting place to be exploring at the moment. Some genuinely new, intriguing music is being found in this space. When the collective voices of Shards came together tonight they filled the lovely new Glass Room at St. Georges with some delightfully fresh, ethereal sounds – they are an original and engaging proposition.
There are nine voices for us to hear tonight. Led by Kieran Brunt – composer, producer and singer (the anti Gareth Malone). They are not purely an acappella group, voices are supported by occasional beats and sometimes subtle electronics that build to swathes of noise. This is as much Thomas Tallis as it is Laurie Anderson or Liz Frazer’s most abstract pronouncements in her Cocteau Twin heyday, the soundtracks of Mica Levi or the classical crossover of Anna Meredith.
They open with the title piece from their album, fragments of tunes interweave, beautiful timbres in the voices, the choir smile and nod as they take real delight from their performance. It is a truly original sonic mix, Brunt takes the first lead, there are airs of Owen Pallett. Lucy Cronin takes over providing contrast with an exquisite flutter of a vocal, gossamer light. Each voice bringing different flavour, another colour.
Brunt tells us that ‘Beam’ is about encouraging us to keep looking upwards. It’s a lovely and soothing fragment of a tune, layered harmonies gently edging us to its gentle drift of a conclusion. They cover Sufjan Stevens’ ‘The Only Thing’ from Carrie and Lowell. It’s a more fully realised and traditionally written song than their other original material and works all the better for this. It also sits well with the sadness and loss that sits within their writing in sharp contrast to the beauty of the music.
As their shortish sets draws to a conclusion they leave us with ‘Summer Sickness’. Echoes of the dark underbelly of Brian Wilson’s struggles contrary to the musical sun of the Beach Boys’ tunes. Trying to smile when feeling sick inside. Their coda is the mellow ‘I Needed the Sun’, a simple vocal motif explored across the group from a number of angles.
I’m guessing that, like myself, not many of tonight’s audience will routinely attend classical choral concerts. Shards provide a new accessible link back to that tradition without patronising or preaching. It looked like it was lots of engaging fun to be them on stage tonight and at times they achieved real beauty. This audience greeted them very warmly and it will be intriguing to see what avenues they choose to explore with their exciting musical soup.
Main photo by Matilda Hill-Jenkins
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
