Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Tuesday July 26, 2016 :
Intrigue spread across the globe from the moment James Blake delivered the delicate lyrics of Feist’s ‘Limit to your Love’ back in 2010. A voice that surpassed his age, capable of exposing unfeigned vulnerability entered our lives. Nearly six years and three albums later, Blake still portrays an air of anonymity with a stare that elicits enigma accompanied by an array of lyrical connotations. So naturally Blake’s gig at the Hordern Pavilion on Tuesday night had the potential of being an emotional rollercoaster.
Absurd amounts of bass vibrated through the venue as Blake opened with ‘Life Round Here’ alongside fellow 1-800 Dinosaur members, Ben Assiter on drums and Rob McAndrews (Airhead) on guitar and sampler. An interesting aspect about this track (and many of Blake’s tracks) is the skewed timing, which was made quite evident during its live production. The call and response type sequence between the upper and lower synth parts combined with Blake’s vocal melody, seemingly meld together on the record but it felt a little more awkward than intended during the live performance. This was quickly remedied as excitement grew when the song progressed, morphing into new track ‘Choose Me’.
The track ‘Radio Silence’ from his latest album, The Colour in Anything, saw Blake loop haunting vocal phrases followed by the heart wrenching pleads “I can’t believe this, you don’t wana see me. Just please, more time“. Although often repetitive in nature, it’s the sparse textures and space created by Blake that makes his style so entrancing. Unfortunately these subtleties were lost at the Hordern, as the dynamics were slightly off point, hindering the intimacy of the experience. The obnoxiously tinny cowbell pierced ears during Voyeur, along with repeated disproportionate amounts of kick drum.
That being said, Blake’s vocals were unwavering with ‘Love Me In Whatever Way’ and title track ‘The Colour In Anything’ hurling the crowd into a state of enthrallment as he flawlessly moves from the rich depths of his lower register to floating notes of falsetto. ‘Retrograde’ appeases the crowed before Blake announces “That’ll be it for us” but of course an encore was in order with ‘The Wilhelm Scream’ closing out the show.
Reviewer : Louie Smith
Photographer : Richard Hedger
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