COLOURING + WREN HINDS + WAR VIOLET – THE FOLKLORE ROOMS, BRIGHTON 15.9.23
Reaching twenty-six years in operation, Bella Union has proven to be one of the finest indie record labels in the UK. Originally founded by Cocteau Twins members Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde (with the latter now the only current spearheader), the label are responsible for the signings, releases and distributions of some of my personal favourite artists including John Grant, Fleet Foxes, Xiu Xiu and Spiritualized, just to name a few!
Friday night marked a celebratory showcasing for recently joined artists War Violet, Wren Hinds and Colouring, all of whom projected whimsical auras of intimacy and immersion in their various phases and formats at my new favourite venue in Brighton, The Folklore Rooms, run by local indie folk artist Jacko Hooper.
Following an introductory speech from Simon (joined by the Brighton Bella Union shop dog!) Jummy Aremu of War Violet quietly makes her way up to the stage behind which stands projected static images presenting her name. She welcomes us into her world with the opening track ‘Different Formations’, a song that possesses a very spaghetti Western flair with a fuzzy guitar tone and a desolate harmonic overdrop. The prominent feature of War Violet is, of course, Jummy’s voice, which is beautifully melancholic, dynamically exciting and slightly reminiscent of PJ Harvey…! Taking into account one of her strings being a touch out of tone for the first portion of the set, me being me, I felt it was quite fitting to the downtrodden and anguished songs Jummy portrays.
The following number, ‘Never Even Tried’, now complete with Neutral Milk Hotel-esque power chords is both angry and heartfelt. Jummy regails a story surrounding this song where after nearly drowning in a Columbian ravine, a subsequent revelation prompted her to re-evaluate her life, stating “I had to die before I actually live”. The slower and life-affirming ‘One Shot’, a song about “reframing past memories to create a new landscape” continues to maintain the desolation that paints the music of War Violet (okay, I am aware I described this song as life-affirming, but that still doesn’t change how dark and secluded the atmosphere that Jummy creates is).
Following a quick guitar re-tune, Jummy precedes to dive into the next song known as ‘Raven Morning’, the titular track on her at present, unreleased album. Now more mellow and melancholic with a touch of Vashti Bunyan here and there, this track is possibly my favourite of the set so far, tied with the intro track! ‘Far Away’ is introduced as the feeling of being physically close with somebody, but emotionally, you couldn’t be further away. Here, Jummy’s vocals reach a higher register, resulting in her most powerful track of the entire set, in both performance and energy! The slow and progressive ‘And We Will Be Together’ presents itself as a mutation in dynamics from start to finish, beginning with a quiet landscape and concluding into an introspective ocean. Finally, the unplanned closer ‘Visions In The Dark’ is easily the most isolating song of the set thanks to its moodier vocal delivery and lyrical recollections of “I had a premonition, I knew this would happen…!”. In the space of just a few songs, Jummy has been able to create a secluded corner for us to encounter War Violet within and make an incredible introduction to the show.
War Violet setlist:
‘Different Formations’
‘Never Even Tried’
‘One Shot’
‘Raven Morning’
‘Far Away’
‘And We Will Be Together’
‘Visions In The Dark’
Succeeding from War Violet, all the way from Cape Town, is the enigmatic Wren Hinds. It took until 2018 for Wren to present to the world his first official release with ‘Tragedy Hill’, after six years of songwriting metamorphosis. His recent studio album ‘Don’t Die In The Bundu’ marks his first release on Bella Union and finally, after 11 years he marks his live debut in the UK! He opens with the song ‘Run’, which already induces the sonic landscape with tinges of Americana within beautiful finger-picked guitar patterns. As soon as he breathed his first lyric to us, I was immediately taken to that wonderful kaleidoscope of indie folk music the likes of Ben Howard, The Tallest Man on Earth and Gregory Alan Isakov had dominated in the yester-decade of the 2010s.
Throughout the night, the fuzzy visuals twist, turn and shapeshift to compliment the auras and atmospheres of each respective artist; the dark static of War Violet have transformed into swarms of jellyfish and psychedelia-tinged spirals. ‘Wrenbird’ begins with a staple of Wren’s live palate: a droning guitar loop, rooted in the song’s musical key. Sadder in tone and harmony compared to ‘Run’, this song’s performance features soft and sweet harmonica embellishments (it’s worth noting that the harmonica is an instrument I’m not always keen on hearing in music, but here, it works so damn well, it’s hard not to get drawn in!). The acoustic and rustic ‘Dream State’ feels extremely angelic, particularly when it comes to Wren’s voice, which, here, carries a slight inflection that you could hear in alt-J’s Joe Newman. Before beginning the following cut ‘Hope’, Wren switches back to his open droning electric guitar, something that I absolutely adore about his sound here! Some beautifully anchoring F major melodies that ascend and descend with grace remain the backbone of the song while the visuals create an immersively oceanic splendour.
Following the soft melodies of ‘Wild Eyes’ (which evoke memories of discovering Fleet Foxes for the first time), comes the bittersweet and tender ‘Chasing The River’ if there was any point in the entire night where I could have been found on the verge of breaking down in tears, it would have been here. Lyrics such as “It takes a cold heart to lose you and a lifetime to make it through” as well as the implementation of Wren’s guitar drone loops, paired with the terraforming visuals, made me feel like I was drifting away from a life I felt I recognized. The song ‘Father’ is a further strong highlight of the set with its idyllic sound palate and strong chord progression buried underneath Wren’s sombre and heart-wrenching lyrics. It’s fair to say Wren ended on a high with the closing song ‘The Final Walk’; pulling us in with one final droning guitar introduction, we are guided through slick chord changes against these dark, smokey visuals that match the totality the song’s lyrics have exemplified. I must say, for a gentleman performing his debut UK show, he certainly looked and felt right at home on that stage for the entire set!
Wren Hinds setlist:
‘Run’
‘Wrenbird’
‘Dream State’
‘Hope’
‘Wild Eyes’
‘Chasing The River’
‘Father’
‘The Final Walk’
Finally, we approach an artist that Simon Raymonde could not refrain from raving about before the third and final set of the night commenced: Jack Kenworthy as Colouring. After completing a Popular Music course at Goldsmiths University and with a keen interest in all manner of esoteric musical corners such as microtonality and electroacoustic systems, Jack’s music as Colouring begins to embark on a unique path of alternative pop within a DIY set-up as he runs up to a release of his sophomore album. Jack approaches his colourful array of keyboards, pedals and other musical wizardry in the form of samplers and drum machines, to give us his landscape for the next half hour. In ‘For Life’, the first song alone, Jack gives us such power and precision in his Guillemots’ Fyfe Dangerfield-like voice against anchoring piano chords that carry the song through.
Talking of piano chords, the song ‘I Don’t Want to See You Like That’ features piano embellishments that feel like something straight out of a song by The National; upon mentioning this to Jack post-show, he was humbled as he was a huge fan of the band! Piano fifths, drenched in delay feedback pull us into the next cut, ‘Symmetry’, which sees Jack take hold of the acoustic guitar this time around. This track was a remarkable song in terms of atmosphere; watching and listening to Jack play made me imagine a room where Blur, Pulp, Suede and all manner of Britpop beauties partying at full volume, while Jack sits in the underbelly, in an intimate surrounding, quiet, comforting and serene. ‘A Wish’ sees Jack lean more towards the folk side than the pop side that he’s been operating within for most of his set, with lyrics about killing time watching French films giving a wonderfully picturesque charm to the set.
The following two songs both employ the usage of rudimentary, yet quaint drum machine patterns that compliment Jack’s piano nicely. The first of which, ‘Big Boots’, the most dance-worthy track of the set, with a melody that could really take this song places in the world, while the latter, ‘Lune’, has a very cinematic feel to it, particularly due to the ever-shifting visuals. Finally, the closing song ‘Love To You Mate’, the most emotional track here, features some luscious vocal arrangements playing from the sampler as well as a catchy hook placed underneath the melancholic songwriting. Put simply, this song was a fond closing moment to a wonderful night. It’s fair to say that War Violet, Wren Hinds and Colouring all displayed strong talent and dedicated passion to where they dream to take their music from here and Bella Union must be proud to have them on-board.
Colouring setlist:
‘For Life’
‘I Don’t Want to See You Like That’
‘Symmetry’
‘A Wish’
‘Big Boots’
‘Lune’
‘Love To You, Mate’
