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Ali Welford enjoys a night of glacial swathes of synthesised noise to choppy techno-fuelled flirtations with the dancefloor with Kathryn Joseph
Image by Ali Welford
As gig preps go, getting “pregnant with wine,” losing the key to your Airbnb and sleeping in a van on a bed of your own merch could arguably be classed as suboptimal. Fortunately, Kathryn Joseph and tourmate Lomond Campbell have just about got it together by the time they arrive at The Cluny – the final stop on the Scots’ autumn tour of England and Wales. The latter (who apparently suffered the further indignity of being served an inedible “hairy” sausage for breakfast) is first up, showcasing the breadth of his electronic soundscaping prowess. Swooning from glacial swathes of synthesised noise to choppy techno-fuelled flirtations with the dancefloor, it’s plain to see how such wide-ranging output made him an attractive collaborator – and as the night goes on, we’re treated to the full expanse of that partnership.
Returning to his place for the main set, Campbell’s synths and Joseph’s piano are stationed opposite one another, in a visual show of the chemistry they share. It’s there personally too (a good job, given last night’s events), and present for all to hear on Joseph’s latest album WE WERE MADE PREY., which the pair proceed to perform in full, almost entirely in sequence. The sole exception is DEER., shifted from mid-album to set opener. Casting Joseph’s trademark quivering vocal in an icy sonic fog, it’s nonetheless an ideal harbinger for the material to come: simmering yet cinematic, with Campbell’s presence all the more conspicuous in the live setting.
There are occasions where that dense accompaniment can obscure the fragile power of Joseph’s voice, but more frequently his contributions prove indispensable. It’s difficult to imagine ROADKILL., for example, making the same impact without the explosive squall which meets its chorus, while the subtler crackles embedded in DRAWN. add worn-in depth to perhaps the record’s most quietly devastating moment. It does no harm to BEFORE. either – though truthfully it’s difficult to imagine a format in which this song wouldn’t excel; Joseph’s virtuoso performance culminating in one of her rawest, most cathartic masterpieces yet, in studio and indeed on stage.
Tonight’s real revelations, however, are saved for the latter stages. Whereas a conventional encore would see Joseph return alone with a handful of favourites from her first three albums, instead Campbell remains in tow, as the pair deliver a series of reinterpretations from her previous record, For You Who Are the Wronged. To those who missed last year’s remixes EP, the prospect of Campbell taking harrowing accounts of abuse and “fixing them into dance bangers” might sound like Joseph’s wry humour running amok – much like she’d dismissed their main set as “shit songs about fucking.” As it happens, not only is the description accurate, but more often than not the trick pays handsomely. If What Is Keeping You Alive Makes Me Want to Kill Them For’s new bubbly façade instinctively jars, The Burning of Us All’s transformation into a gothic synthpop stunner feels remarkably befitting. And though nobody in their right mind would bring dancing shoes to a Sunday evening Kathryn Joseph show, the technicolour splash of Long Gone and rhythmic jaunt of Until the Truth of You certainly raise the temptation. “If you preferred Kathryn on her own… she’s probably going back to that,” Campbell jokes, after recounting their past 24 hours. It’s a return some would undoubtedly favour – those solo shows had an intensity, both in performance and Joseph’s connection with her audience, that tonight occasionally lacks. Nonetheless, this show not only underlines her capacity to thrive in a novel setting, but further demonstrates the power of those older songs in their rich potential for reinvention. Whether immediately or in five years’ time, with Campbell or somebody else, here’s hoping for more curveballs in the future.
