Jalen N'Gonda
Bush Hall, 23 April 2018
A few years ago I accidentally stumbled on a mysterious singer that was a beautiful throwback to the soft soulful sounds of the 70s, her album reminding me of some kind of beautiful lost Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter classic. Turns out I had actually seen Natalie Prass before playing in Jenny Lewis' band but there's no doubt that she was destined for bigger things.
Her self-titled debut was one of my absolute favourites of 2015 and I managed to catch her live at a rather special guest-filled concert at Islington Assembly Hall. It's always more exciting to see an artist like Prass in a small, intimate venue though so I knew I couldn't miss her when she announced this show at the tiny but beautiful Bush Hall ahead of the release of her second album, The Future & The Past. I would get to hear her gorgeous voice up close and hear the new songs before they were even released! It was win-win situation.
First though was the support act, a singer who is new to me: Jalen N'Gonda. Before the show I had read that N'Gonda is from Liverpool but when he takes to the stage he sounds distinctly American to me and it turns out that he's originally from Maryland, USA and moved here four years ago to pursue his dream of making music. First impression is that he's a handsome guy and looks cool with his guitar, always a plus but it's when he opens his mouth and begins singing that it's immediately apparent that N'Gonda is a big talent.
With just an electric guitar and a big smile, N'Gonda's sound is pure 60s and 70s R&B, filled with tender and soulful vocals and memorable melodies. He starts with a tune called I Guess That's What Makes Me A Loser (great title) and makes his way, it seems, through all stages of a relationship with love songs and sad love lost songs and everything in between. He even plays a all-new song that he says he is nervous he is going to completely screw up yet plays it perfectly. Not surprisingly, the crowd seems to love him. I'd love to see him with a full band though but I'm sure Jalen N'Gonda is going places.
When I first catch sight of Natalie Prass emerging from backstage all I see is her awesome pink satin dress, complete with matching tie. She looks like she should be appearing on TV back in the mid 70s. Her band, all men, are wearing blue and later she refers to them as her "blue boys" before joking that "I try not to conform to gender norms. Oops!"
Prass' forthcoming album is actually a reaction to Trump becoming president and she abandoned a whole record because she felt she had to express her dismay at what was happening in the US. In years to come we are probably going to look back at all the music he "inspired": Juliana Hatfield, Tori Amos, Margo Price Speedy Ortiz and even Lana Del Rey are just five others I can think of off the top of my head who channeled their Trump frustrations onto record in the past year or so.
She begins the set with a few of the new tunes. The first, Oh My, is has a cool, funky disco feel that has the crowd grooving along and sees Prass dancing around the stage, while Hot For The Mountain has a cool jazzy groove and some defiant lyrics that would certainly make Joni Mitchell proud. My favourite though is Sisters, her ode to women everywhere in the wake of the #metoo scandal and "all the crap going on right now in my country." It's has a fierce groove and an absolutely brilliant singalong chorus ("I wanna say it loud, for all the ones held down, we gotta change the plan, for all the nasty women). It's not just an awesome jam but a total feminist anthem and live, even without the soulful female backing vocals, she knocks it out of the park.
Elsewhere, Never Too Late sounds like an 80s soul hit complete with the old-school keyboards, the single Short Court Style has a gorgeous retro pop sound and Ship Goes Down builds to a guitar-fuelled finale with Prass crooning over the top. After this the band leave the stage and Prass seats herself behind the keyboard for a solo tune. The whole show I keep thinking how much she looks like Karen Carpenter and she introduces the song, Far From You, by telling us how her entire life she's been told she looks like Carpenter even before she even knew her music. Now, Prass tells us, she's one of her heroes and the beautiful piano ballad she sings is inspired by Karen Carpenter. It's a lovely tribute.
There are songs from her debut album too, of course, and they remind me of just how obsessed I was with that record: the songs still sound fantastic, in particular Your Fool, Bird Of Prey and Why Don't You Believe In Me. The best has to be the moody and soaring My Baby Don't Understand Me which has the crowd singing the refrain at the end loudly and earning plenty of grins from Prass, while the guitars take over in a delightfully rocky way.
They end the main set with another new song, Ain't Nobody, which has another great groove and reminds me a little of Janet Jackson in the 80s (my fave Janet era obviously) and Haim before they got boring. Again it has everyone dancing. The new album is certain to be amazing, judged on this performance alone.
Prass is enticed back on to the stage for an encore but only brings her guitarist with her. They look set to play a song they've discussed but then someone in the crowd yells "Violently" and Prass changes tack and says, "why don't we try that one, I haven't played it in two years!" Her guitarist says he doesn't think he's ever played it with her but goes on to play beautifully throughout. The song also showcases how pretty and delicate Prass' voice is. I had forgotten how fragile and girly it is but it's also extremely lovely and so full of emotion.
It's the perfect way to end the show and left me full of anticipation for the new album. Roll on June!
No comments:
Post a Comment