Narc. Magazine Online
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Ben Lowes-Smith enjoys an evening of musical alchemy
Image: Widowspeak by Tonje Thilesen
Night Shop, aka Justin Sullivan, cuts a fairly anachronistic yet welcome figure. Drummer for Kevin Morby and numerous other well-oiled units, Sullivan’s slacker-ish acoustic pop is deeply satisfying- nocturnal, succinct and suave. His tunes shimmer with an understated self-assurance and enrapture a captive audience.
New York’s Widowspeak are similarly nocturnal in tone, they write heavy-hearted Lynchian tunes that speak to the American songbook and very few contemporaries. Vocalist Molly Hamilton has a salubrious burr that is the guiding aspect of all of these tunes; smoky, laconic and captivating. Drawing primarily from new album The Jacket, Widowspeak’s brittle, fragile tunes hit an emotional jugular, melancholy and resolute. The group display real moments of musical alchemy tonight, performing beautifully composed songs with nuanced instrumentation. The band mention a number of times that it is their first time here, I sincerely hope it isn’t their last.
