This is a much smaller tour than The Jezabels are used to back home, having been iTunes single of the week a number of times, scored two songs in the Aussie radio Triple J Hottest 100 2010 and just finished a headlining tour.
Difficult to put into a single category, The Jezabels music is beautiful yet haunting, dramatic yet soft, and supported by the vocals of an incredible lead singer whose voice rarely fails to give you goose bumps. Singer Hayley Mary may only be small, but her voice carries such weight and conveys the emotions of each track with an understated beauty that would put Florence Welch to shame. Over the top of melodic piano and a solid drumbeat that is powerful but not overstated, it's no wonder they've just been signed to the same label as Bombay Bicycle Club and Jessie J.
If you haven't heard of The Jezabels then you may well have heard one of their songs, at least if you're part of the nearly ten million views for Danny MacAskill's barmy bike-trials video on YouTube, and it's this song, 'A little Piece', that they open with in Camden.
It's always impressive how the Aussie contingent turn up to support their own, but even with the mixed crowd in Proud Galleries it's clear that The Jezabels have managed to grab the attention of most people in here. The fact that headliners, More Diamonds, managed only a fraction of the crowd shows they are clearly doing something right.
Kicking on with 'Easy To Love' and 'Disco Biscuit Love', it's easy to get caught up in the raw beauty of each track without really noticing the emotional lyrics behind them for example the standout track of the night, 'Mace Spray', talks of how " She keeps mace spray, for you can't rely on the common man." Incidentally, the video for this features some spectacular scenes of waves crashing over rocks and this sums up the power and natural beauty of the track far better than words ever could.
The more upbeat 'Hurt Me' (despite the name) is the penultimate track of the set and is the song where each part of the band really gets to show what they can do, from the pounding drums to driving piano melodies, subtle yet effective guitar and once again Mary's vocals demanding the attention.
It's no wonder that The Jezabels have attracted a big following down under and based on their first show in the UK they can expect big things here. Their first album is due out soon having already released 3 EPs, and if it gets picked up by one of the big radio stations, this may well be the last chance you get to see them in such intimate venues.
article by: Darren Willsher
published: 13/05/2011 10:58
FUTURE GIGS
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