Hoxton Hall is a traditional old music hall, built in 1863. Somehow it has survived, with its character intact, and last night its high ceilinged intimacy was the perfect setting for Emma-Jean Thackray’s return to London. As the change of lights signalled her arrival on stage, the place was filled with intro music like Hawaiian guitar from outer space, or Duane Eddy at the end of days. And then there she was, singing Black Hole. It was immensely and intensely funky, and if she has the scholarly look of a head prefect at a girls’ school, it’s one who’s been abducted by the Parliament Mothership.
Matt Gedrych was demonstrating high level (perhaps Level 42) bass and Dougal Taylor’s drums shimmered while Lyle Barton played judiciously on keyboards.
Emma-Jean Thackray had the audience from the first microsecond. She joked about her shorts —“Come for the knee, stay for the tunes” — then launched into the title track of her new album. Weirdo had a frisson of Frank Zappa and was instantly enchanting with Thackray playing some mean guitar and Taylor’s implacably placed kick drums. The drummer continued to excel on Stay, playing a rocksteady beat like a human percussion loop. With Barton’s churning keyboards and incantatory vocals from Thackray, the band meshed into a well oiled machine rolling the big wheel of the song forward.
“Some actual jazz, kinda,” was how the leader introduced her song Let Me Sleep. Lyle Barton moved from his Prophet 6 to his Nord Stage and Emma-Jean put down her guitar and became “just” a singer. Bass and drums played together in a Latin explosion, and when they dropped out and it was just Barton playing on the keyboard it was like we’d reached a clearing in a jungle with the sunlight striking through. And then Thackray started playing the trumpet. Don Ellis would have approved
The single Wanna Die was sleek and potent. A high velocity slice of mutant pop with Lyle Barton returning to forever on the Prophet and Dougal Taylor’s drumming relentless and unrepentant. Emma-Jean Thackray sang and chopped power chords from her guitar, aware that this song is a flawless vehicle for her talents. Save Me was a very different affair with her crafting mean, spare, bluesy guitar and Matt Gedrych playing plump southern-fried bass. With nifty percussion from Taylor and Barton back on the Nord, the band created a loping outlaw beat that conjured visions of a coyote fleeing across the desert.
The diversity of songs on offer at this gig was almost unnerving; it was certainly impressive. The spotlights glided across a turbulent sea of fans responding to the music. On Maybe Nowhere Matt Gedrych played metallic shards of an industrial bass solo — a factory robot grumbling about his workload while Dougal Taylor summoned up an unforgiving stormfront of drums. Golden Green was a sonic odyssey with Lyle Barton’s keys sounding an incoming call from another dimension. “That’s from the old record, Yellow,” said Emma-Jean Thackray. “Don’t listen to it. It’s shit compared to the new one.” And then they launched into Remedy with Lyle Barton’s Prophet 6 singing a happy bubbling song and the drums and bass fitting together hand in glove. The musical colours this quartet can produce are remarkable. Altogether a remarkable night.
Personally I’ll be listening to both albums.
