James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
After my ears were assailed by the support act ‘Middlemen’, who seemed to decide that if they turned their amps up loud enough no one would notice the quality of their music, I was pleased to have my hearing intact by the time Ghostpoet took to the stage. Riding the wave of his recent Mercury Prize nomination, the singer’s presence was a far cry from his debut here six months ago supporting Metronomy (coincidentally also nominated), where he was largely unknown.
Describing himself, as “a lad with a lisp with some stories to tell” it is Ghostpoet’s unique style of “speak-singing” that makes his music so interesting. Though, personally, after listening to an entire album of it, the line between interesting and grating becomes blurred. The weakness in his record however; its purposeful monotony occasionally overpowering the flashes of genius in his lyrics, becomes irrelevant in his live shows. He brings to his live performance an energy that, listening to the album, wouldn’t have seemed possible.
Songs like ‘Survive It” and 'Liiines' had an electricity that roused the audience into a frenzy of energy. With most of the music for each track produced from his laptop, the performance had an amateur feel that, far from weakening the enjoyment, simply highlighted the speed of his rise to prominence. “This next song’s called Garden Path” he announced proudly, pressing a button on his laptop before stopping it abruptly. “No wait. That was the song I just sang…”
Ghostpoet performs with the enthusiasm of a fresh singer, but with the lyricism of a veteran. His lyrics aren’t complex, but they cut to the core of vulnerable emotions like a knife: “The aching limbs decide to vapour, sparked up your cigarette” he chants in Cash and Carry Me Home, which tells the story of a heavy drinker, “Wake up lazy bones, please just take me home, I’m out of my comfort zone- the liquid’s wearing off, now I just feel alone”.
There is no doubt from this performance that Ghostpoet deserves the accolades thrown at him in the past year, and all the ingredients are there for an enduring career. If he can impress this much when he only sings on one note, just imagine what will happen when he discovers the whole octave.
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