Just For Culture - Music

Just For Culture

‘Bring Back’ by Nur Jaber & the Planet OSF – Series I EP

20/5/2021

Nur Jaber is back with an utterly entrancing track that plays as both a mesmeric intro to the driving, pounding compilation EP and as a pining love song to long-missed raves.

A slow build, a sturdy bass, a softly echoing, plaintive vocal loop. The setup for Nur Jaber’s ‘Bring Back’ is simple. But it’s also pretty much the definition of what melancholic techno should be.

It’s no surprise that the track is quality. Nur Jaber has firmly cemented herself in the Berlin scene over the past few years, rising through the ranks to become a rising through the ranks to become a regular at Berghain and some of the city's biggest clubs. She has easily adopted the uncompromisingly hard and heavy style adored in the German capital, tweaking it and making it her own.

The track is the lead for a new compilation EP released on her OSF label. Planet OSF – Series I features tracks from Eira Haul, Truant., Luca Eck, KOR, and Lesser Of.

All of the great mixtapes are filled from start to finish with songs that stand strong on their own. But this release goes one further, with each bringing its own distinct vibe to the party.

Eira Haul’s ‘In the Night’ switches up the tone instantly with its incessant and insistent drive. It’s a clear signal that the EP is indeed bringing us back to the Berlin nights of old, just as requested.

The track titles mirror the various stages of a weekend-long rave. ‘Early Sunday Morning’ is full of brutal drums, industrial dissonance and synth explosions, reminiscent of some of SNTS’s punishing tracks.

Things let up a little as smooth synths pour in with ‘When the Rain Washed It All Away’ from Luca Eck. The kick around the 3’30” mark still hits reassuringly hard though; the party isn’t done yet.

‘Requiem’ is frenetic in places and will surely be a great track for those hazy hedonistic afternoons spent in pitch dark rooms. Rounding off the EP is Lesser Of’s ‘Awaken from a Dream’, with its wailing synth and bubbling, growling bassline providing an enthrallingly bleak closer.

But, even though the record is nicely rounded and charts an imagined journey through a STAUB-style weekender, it is the first track that we reckon we’ll be coming back to over and over. It’s not just that it’s full of emotive swells and is altogether beautifully executed, it’s also the perfect track for the times.

“Bring back those days when the night was still alive, I want to feel it again.” No one could have said it better.

Fraser Bonar

Live Review: RY X - Saint Luke's, Glasgow, 20 February 2019

21/2/2019

“It’s so nice to be held by you tonight Glasgow” is a thing which Aussie singer-songwriter RY X said quite a lot during his set at Saint Luke’s on 20 February.

That might seem a weird thing to open an article with - it’s a weird thing to say in general, really - but it gives you a good picture of the guy behind the music. Picture the guy who’d say that. He’d have a nice white fedora on, wouldn’t he? He’d have a spiritual white shirt that hangs off him a bit. He’d definitely have a beard. Yup, that’s him. You’re now picturing RY X.

All that definitely ties into the aura of the Australian’s performance. The whole gig feels quite spiritual. I would’ve categorised RY X going into this as sort of minimalist house music. His second solo album ‘Unfurl’ just dropped, and it’s a really beautiful tracklist of melodic, meditative electronica. This was his first gig promoting the new record, and thus the first time playing most of the tracks to a live crowd, and the live gig is an interesting interpretation of the record.

On stage RY X speaks about how he’s gone to great lengths to avoid using any kind of computer on stage. There’s a band up there with him, all of whom seem to be playing, amongst some other things, the keys, in some way or another, while the main man stays in centre stage with his guitar and soft, mumbling vocals.

It’s an incredibly sensual gig. If you can say that without thinking about, like, “sexy” stuff. Come on now. We’re all old enough to move past that. I don’t mean that loads of people were at it around the venue or anything, but there were a lot of candles on stage, fairy lights above the audience and in the intimate, unique Saint Luke’s setting, well, if someone proposed to you there - without all the sweaty fans around, of course - you’d probably cry, say yes, call them a romantic and then have some great sex while RY X played on the stage.

The decision to go full-instrument means you hear every beat perfectly, every note in the build up to euphoric, melodic highs and lows that pull you in. Some may turn up expecting a slightly more intense electronic presence, which is probably lost, or rather traded, by the lack of any machines on stage, but it’s a commendable performance, and to be able to turn an album which really does feel very electronic at times into such a live band success is impressive.

Old favourites Berlin and Howling get huge cheers from the Glasgow crowd when they air. The real highlights though come from the new songs. Untold is an incredibly addictive, yet simplistic song with vocals that float gently on top, The Water an intriguing lyrical journey set to gripping keys, and encore Foreign Tides shows a more funky side to the album. Yayaya is already a fan favourite, and all of the above were just played for the first time that night.

RY X really looks to connect with an audience. It’s an intimate gig made incredibly immersive through the environment. A great example of how music often deemed electronic, and thus snubbed by many as party music, can be truly beautiful and humbling when performed live.

Don’t turn up expecting a rave. This is a performer ready and wanting to cleanse your mind and draw out your emotional self, if you’ll let him. A real journey of a performance.

4/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC Writers Select... The Top 5 Albums of 2018

31/12/2018

2018! What a year eh? Another twelve months gone. Christmas over. The country's still fucked. And what about that recent news story, eh? The one with the person and the thing? See it? Aye. Madness.

At least the music was good though. So let's focus on that and just get on with the albums of the year. We asked the JFC music writers what their top five records of 2018 were. Here's what they said:

Miles Welstead's Picks

5. The Beths – Future Me Hates Me

I’d never heard of this New Zealand band before 2018 but their debut album is one I keep coming back to. Filled with plenty of catchy hooks and angsty lyrics, it’s hard to not get caught up in the energy of this album. Songs like Little Death and Not Running are personal highlights and wouldn’t sound out of place on a Wolf Alice album. It’s the ‘singing into your hairbrush’ album of the year that proves that guitar pop is still alive and kicking.

4. Maribou State – Kingdoms in Colour

On their latest release Maribou State returned sounding confident and ambitious. It’s a kaleidoscope of a record that meshes colourful and unique global influences with their trademark electronic pop. Two songs feature Holly Walker, a frequent collaborator, whose vocals continue to compliment Maribou State’s sound perfectly. Elsewhere vocals are cut and distorted expertly, in particular Feel Good stands out as a beautiful example of how minimal vocals can be used to great effect. All of the songs are instantly enjoyable and while it might not be hugely innovative, it’s just really fun to listen to.

3. Robyn – Honey

On her first album in eight years, Robyn finally seems to be shaking off the ‘guilty pleasure’ label she’s sometimes unfairly branded with. From the first track Missing U it’s clear that we are in for an emotional journey as she winds her tender heartbreak lyrics around a pulsing beat. Each song builds upon the last with beautiful pacing until we reach the chilled climax of Ever Again as the perfect closer. In a time where the charts are saturated with disposable pop, Robyn reminds us of how effective this genre can be when done right.

2. Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar

Young Fathers somehow made their most accessible yet most experimental album to date with Cocoa Sugar. It took me a while to get into many of these songs; however, with repeated listens the odd quirks and sound effects pierce through and hook you into coming back again and again. Young Fathers are undoubtedly one of the most innovative bands around right now and Cocoa Sugar encapsulates that excitement perfectly. Also the artwork is killer!

1. Jon Hopkins – Singularity

At this point Jon Hopkins could probably release an album of him breathing heavily into a microphone for 45 minutes and it would still top my albums list. Coming anywhere close to 2013’s Immunity was always a steep ask but on his newest release he has managed to create his most coherent album yet. Listening to Singularity is a totally immersive experience which demands your full attention and rewards you with every listen. After numerous listens I feel as though I’ve only scratched the surface of this album and finding time to listen to it in its entirety still fills me with excitement.

Richard Spowart's Picks

5. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar

Okay so I'm from Edinburgh, I live in Leith, I just have to pick this album. But it stands up and Young Fathers deliver another energetic album full of captivating drum beats and mesmerising vocal harmonies, which possess me on every listen as my body spasms to the beat while I dance down Leith walk. Their punk rock energy and soulful hooks shine through particularly well on songs such as Border Girl and Wow while their lead single In My View shows a more poppy side to the trio and I wish them nothing but more mainstream success.

4. Ocean Wisdom - Wizville

High Focus artist Ocean Wisdom was just bound for success, with his effortless flow and charming swagger his songs are so enjoyable to listen to. His lyrics come across as thoughtful and the rhyming schemes he puts to work are constantly changing, keeping the songs exciting and hypnotic. Songs like I ain't Eaten build so much tension and leaves you full of air ready to pop until the song explodes with energy. Ocean is the light, he is the bridge we needed, to connect UK underground hip hop to Grime and American hip hop and is doing it in style on this album with help from legendary acts such as Dizzee Rascal and Method Man.

3. Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)

Will Toledo returns with an album from the past. Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror) was originally released in 2011 on bandcamp and played a major role in the band’s initial success. Here it’s reworked and released through Matador Records as Twin Fantasy (Face to Face). Much more polished and precise, Will Toledo is able to engulf you within his stories and emotions through 13 minute epics like Beach-Life-in-Death to one minute snapshots. There are so many intimate moments on this album fuelled by youth, love and sexual confusion but it also proves to be more dancey than Teens of Denial, with songs such as Bodys which crescendos into a chaotic soup of guitars and synths bleeding into each other which sounds magnificent.

2. Brockhampton - Iridescence

The best boy band since One Direction come through with their first major label release hot off the tails of the Saturation series. With so much talent in one group they bring an energy unmatched by any other act i have seen and this album showcases their ability to switch from hip hop bangers such as Where the Cash at to heart wrenching songs like San Marcos, an acoustic guitar driven ballad with Bearface and Russell Boring stealing the show with their intimate verses. One of my favourite things to happen in music for a long time and i look forward to seeing what moves they make in 2019.

1. Denzel Curry - TA13OO

This album has everything for me. First of all Denzel’s flow is crazy and his execution is so emotionally charged it’s intimidating at times. Secondly he crafts his own unique sound and then blends it together, from the 90's hip hop edge on Black Balloons to the best example of a metal influence being used in hip hop i have ever seen. Far from the years of nu-metal, Black Metal terrorist blends the two sounds into a raw industrial noise which gets me charged up on every listen. There is not a bad song on the album and they all deliver a refreshing sound capturing Zeltron (his alter ego) and Curry's personality through a trip into their mind.

Fraser Bonar's Picks

5. Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar

The Edinburgh-based trio tend to take dead aim at any easy classification or definition. Their music plays out the uneasiness with the assumed order of life that is felt in every lyric. But mostly, Young Fathers make massive records, with Cocoa Sugar brimming with energy, and lines that will spend days running at breakneck speed round your head. Lord beautifully mixes gospel with various genres. The deep synth and incessant rhythm of Toy, however, make it the stand-out song on the record, for me, full of everything that makes them the group they are.

4. Editors – Violence

It may seem strange to admit in this list, but this is far from a perfect album. There are definite highs and lows. But there are three tracks which comfortably qualify the whole as one of the year’s best. Hallelujah (So Low) starts slow, with the expected mix of guitar and synth that has made Editors famous. But when the riff finally kicks, it blows away just about all past efforts. The title track is pleasingly reminiscent of the band’s early tracks, while Magazine is haunting and infectious; quite simply it is an all-round belter.

3. Enrico Sanguiliano – Biomorph

If you are looking for the record that has done the most to shape a genre in 2018, you won’t be far off with Biomorph’s impact on techno. It is a blissful, crafted mixture of beautiful ambient electronica and ear-shattering drops. The first few tracks slowly weave through different atmospheres before Generative Model kicks things up a gear. Swooshing synths and punishing basslines characterise most of the record, reaching its peak with Symbiosis. Several of the tracks have become absolute staples at techno festivals, and big-name DJs have introduced the Italian’s beats to fans around the globe.

2. Rüfüs du Sol – Solace

While the Australian trio found major success with 2015’s Bloom, this album sees them really come into their own. There is a real mix of moods and sounds, often found lacking on electronic records. Things kick off with Treat You Better, which is, all in all, a sweet love song. No Place has had the most success as a single, charting in the US as well as domestically. But the darkness and vocal hooks on Underwater and Lost in My Mind mark these two as the album’s most interesting points. The trio backed up the record with a rip-roaring world tour.

1. Chvrches – Love is Dead

“We don’t play many slow songs, they bum people out… we just play sad songs in an upbeat way” – singer Lauren Mayberry pretty much summed up the appeal of Chvrches’ brand of electro-pop during their latest tour. The songs have genuine depth and thoughtful lyrics, but always wrapped up in pretty rhythmic paper and shiny chorus bows. Love is Dead may even rival the heights of the band’s previous album (Every Open Eye) for delivering tune after tune, each in turn bringing a grin to your face and making you get up and dance. Just try Miracle and thank me later.

Stuart Kenny's Picks

5. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar

The pride of Edinburgh. A second Mercury award, another SAY award, and still the first group I put on whenever someone looks at me like “Scottish hip hop” is an oxymoron. Young Fathers have been heaped in praise for Cocoa Sugar, and with good reason too. Eclectic, danceable and intelligent as ever, Young Fathers build on everything they’re loved for - their originality, pounding electronic beats, lyrical prowess and the energy that makes them one of the best live acts in the world. See In My View, Tremolo, Holy Ghost and Wow.

4. Benjamin Folke Thomas - Modern Man

I first saw Swede Benjamin Folke Thomas supporting the wonderful John Murry at Sneaky Pete’s. He played a great opening set, and Stuff of Dreams stuck with me, an 80s-style folk-pop song, fit with incredibly catchy, singalong melody, and wonderful, surreal lyrics about the artist having a fictional meeting with actor Paul Newman while playing 9-ball pool in his local bar. It’s a fantastic song, so I was eagerly awaiting the release of Modern Man, and it didn’t disappoint. One Day is songwriting brilliance - “I’ll become right wing / forget about the poverty and the troubles I’ve been in” - Dead Horizon shows a core of rock, Lily Like a Gunslinger a murder ballad about a woman shooting her husband dead inspired by considerations of male privilege. Nature of Ways feels, lyrically in particular, incredibly Cohen. This is an intelligent, listenable and incredibly fun record.

3. Malcolm Middleton - Bananas

There’s a funny picture of a bunch of bananas on the front cover of Bananas. That’s fun, isn’t it? Well, the lead single is called Love is a Momentary Lapse in Self-Loathing. So yeah, it’s still pretty peak Malcolm Middleton. The former-Arab Strap man follows a deeply depressive, theme on Bananas. There’s lots of black wit. Love is a Momentary Lapse in Self-Loathing features the line “fuck off with your happiness”. Man Up, Man Down is self-explanatory. Opener Gut Feeling brutally relatable for many. The melodies meanwhile are largely the opposite. Upbeat guitars and drums on Buzz Lightyear Helmet are reflective of the unique sound; distinctive, catchy, listenable and relistenable, and with fascinating subject matter.

2. Kanye West - ye

Ugh. Look, I don’t want Kanye West to be in the top albums list any more than you do. This year more than ever it’s been particularly hard to deny the guy is a dickhead. But ye is an incredible album. I Thought About Killing You is one of the most startling, attention-grabbing, remarkable opening tracks to an album I can recall. One of those you pop in your headphones, then end up having to stop while walking down the street because you need to concentrate on listening. It’s a stunning piece of spoken word writing and performance, and an unusual, fascinating exploration of mental health, perception and expectation. Yikes is a high energy call back to some of the best of Life of Pablo. Wouldn’t Leave is a jaw-dropping listen on numerous level. Only seven tracks, yes, but it’s hard to flaw them.

1. Karine Polwart with Steven Polwart & Inge Thomas - Laws of Motion

One of the most beautiful records to come out of Scotland in recent memory, I first heard Laws of Motion on Roddy Hart’s brilliant BBC Scotland radio show. I Burn But I Am Not Consumed played - a spoken word song about the Scottish history of the Trump family, written from the perspective of the rock of the Isle of Lewis left me absolutely stunned. If you use Trump as subject matter, you better be original, and you better be good, and that song is one of the most unique and remarkable of the year. The rest of the record is just as engaging, moving, and intrinsically Scottish. Start to finish, there’s not a bad song on it.

NEWS | Electric Fields Returns For Sixth Year - But In July

6/12/2018

Electric Fields - your favourite wee Scottish arts festival - has announced it will be returning for 2018, but ditching the September date it's enjoyed for the past five years for the new dates of 4 – 6 July, as always at the gorgeous Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries & Galloway.

The move is to accommodate more families, with the dates falling in the school holidays, and to make the most of the summer weather, though the weather has been kind on Electric Fields the last few years.

Live Review: Hinds - The Caves, Edinburgh, 28 November 2018

28/11/2018

Here. Everyone. See Hinds - aye, that Spanish band - at The Caves? That was fucking mental.

Hinds are a warm indie rock band from Madrid, which makes the fact that their Edinburgh date was probably the rowdiest gig we’ve ever seen at The Caves somewhat of a surprise, though definitely a pleasant one.

The all-female four piece released their second album I Don’t Run in April, and it’s a hell of a record. The album is utterly charming, and oh-so-relatable, with the lyrics capturing perfectly the vulnerability and awkwardness that often comes with relationships of all kinds. It’s a record that wouldn’t be out of place as the soundtrack to a coming of age film. There’s lots of songs about love, but rarely are they love songs, and never does it get all soppy.

There’s a certain ruggish-ness throughout I Don’t Run. The songs don’t feel polished, and there’s a messiness to it too, which makes sense, when dealing with such messy subject matters, and it’s open and accessible music - the melodies tell you to let yourself dream and dance, not to take any shit, shout whatever is on our mind, it doesn’t matter if you look like a bit of an idiot while you do it.

Unsurprisingly, that charm translated wonderfully to the live stage. But a little surprisingly, it was met with some pretty heavy moshing. Genuinely, the atmosphere at The Caves in Edinburgh was absolutely electric. The guitar solos and instrumentals were mental. At one point there was a mammoth of a man who kept elbowing me by accident, but with elbows so big that it felt like a bunch from Mike Tyson each time, so I was driven further into the jumping crowd and - make of this what you will - I’m pretty sure I accidentally licked a bald guy’s head at one point.

It was that kind of mental.

And Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrotes, leading the show on vocals and guitars, and Ade Martin on bass and backing vocals and Amber Grimbergen on drums all rose to the occasion, and then some.

Live Review: Kobi Onyame - Stereo, Glasgow, 1 November 2018

5/11/2018

Kobi Onyame’s debut album Gold got a much deserved nomination for the Scottish Album of the Year awards, and his live show is just as strong as the music on the record.

The Ghanaian-Glaswegian hip hop artist was playing in home territory in Glasgow, at the intimate venue of Stereo. Good beer upstairs. Good vibes down in the venue. We like it.

Gold is a record filled with Ghanaian influence, with a whole host of instruments popping up on the album, measured lyrics and some well-placed timely basslines and harder verses making it a bit of a dance frenzy too. Kobi spared none of this on stage, playing alongside a band consisting of keys, drums, guitars, trumpets and saxophones and getting the crowd moving as he did so.

Each of the instrumentalists played their part perfectly and led by the charismatic Kobi at centre stage, clearly a natural and very comfortable performer, the album translated to the live stage brilliantly.

Live Review: Maribou State - QMU, Glasgow, 13 October 2018

15/10/2018

Maribou State arrived at Queen Margaret Union in support Kingdoms of Colour - their second studio album and critically-acclaimed follow up to 2015 debut Portraits, a sublime record which, due to the fact it synced up perfectly with the writing of my undergraduate dissertation, I will always somewhat bizarrely link with the the impact of Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels on the Scottish national tale.

But enough about that. I can forward you on the full 15,000 word dissertation and recommend you an album to listen to while you’re reading it if that’s really your thing.

Kingdoms of Colour is the perfect follow up to Portraits. It’s chilled-out, heartful music, accessible but fun, dance-friendly electronic sounds with that sun-soaked Maribou State, technicolor, travelling wonder that fans loved on record one and have been waiting for on the second. It’s an album that's been almost universally critically-acclaimed, and in our opinion, rightly so.

Live, the album is transformed into something you might not expect. With albeit incredibly impressive live instrumental work across the board, certain songs lose the neatly-cut electronic edge which defines their sound on the albums and almost spill into indie soundtracks, but the group go hard on the synths and electronic input in other places to make up for this.

It’s good music and an enjoyable listen throughout the set, but the music on stage does sounds pretty different to what’s on the record at times.

Live Review: Emme Woods + Edwin Organ, Factory Sessions at Edinburgh Beer Factory, 4 October 2018

5/10/2018

Pitch up at 7.30pm at the Edinburgh Beer Factory. Where’s that? Over by the Gyle. By that big Makro. Is Makro still a thing? Not sure. Not the point. Doesn’t that take ages to get to? No. That’s what I thought too. It’s a 10 minute tram ride from Haymarket.

Anyway. Since when did Edinburgh have a beer factory?

The Edinburgh Beer Factory is a new, but not so new it isn't already award-winning, family-owned craft brewery based in Edinburgh. You’ve probably seen Paolozzi lager on taps around town. That’s them. They’ve also recently opened their taproom to the public, and have now started ‘Factory Sessions’ - evenings where they bring in two musicians to play the taproom. We made the surprisingly short journey over to the taproom to check it out.

“Blues-inspired, sassy and soulful” Emme Woods and “electronic, synth-pop act” Edwin Organ were the artists charged with taking the stage for session #1. We’d never seen or heard either before, but both come recommended by Vic Galloway - that essential Scottish stamp of approval - and we can confirm that the Edinburgh Beer Factory did indeed pick wisely.

What makes the sessions so unique of course is the venue itself though. A select few - outrageously comfortable - chairs are pointed at a corner of the room teched up for the performance, in front of long glass windows looking in at the lines of brewing tanks behind. There’s fairy lights and all and complementary nuts and crisps. Don’t get that at most gigs.

Most of the crowd stands behind the chair or to the side of the makeshift stage, and the bar in the corner opposite serves the good stuff from the tanks. We had a couple unfiltered lagers and BUNK! cherry saisons which went down very well. Certainly beats the £7 gig Heineken you’d end up spilling on the floor at the Corn Exchange, anyway.

Edwin Organ (pictured below) is first up, eager to tell the crowd he’s doing a bit of a stripped back set. There’s still a keyboard, laptop and a couple musicians on stage with him, mind you. Edwin is wearing a cool jumper. Edwin is a cool guy. His set is a funkier performance than his techno/club roots had us suspecting it would be - partly down to the stripped back set no doubt.

Live Review: John Murry - Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 17 September 2018

18/9/2018

John Murry is a singer-songwriter raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, the land of Elvis, probably best known for his 2012 album The Graceless Age. It received universal acclaim and was, amongst other accolades, included in The Guardian's best of the year.

You might expect this to be a platform from which the American would have gone on to excel and cement his position in the music industry, but John’s path has never followed what you could call a natural course. Early in his life undiagnosed autism led to Murry being prescribed medication, and then being checked into rehab by his adopted parents after, he told The Guardian, "smoking pot about three times and being drunk maybe four or five".

His bio writes that he was "discarded onto the streets of Memphis", where he found music, his saving grace, and together with Tim Mooney put together The Graceless Age. It was after the sudden death of Mooney, subsequent to a world tour, that Murry’s life once again became a chaotic whirlwind. His wife and child left him, though they are now reconciled, and he overdosed and almost died. He does not now drink or take drugs.

It feels important to detail this before getting to his live performance at Sneaky Pete’s intimate little music hub on Cowgate, because it all comes through in the music. John Murry is an exquisite songwriter, but not one for those looking for tunes to brighten up a dark day.

His latest album, being toured, is called A Short History of Decay, which should be your first clue. Songs include ‘One Day (You’ll Die)’ - set to a surprisingly jaunty dub-style melody - an absolutely sublime reimagining of The Afghan Whigs ‘What Jail is Like’ (which we would say puts the lyrics to far better use than the original) stating "if what you're shovelling is company then I would rather be alone" and the song ‘Miss Magdalene’, asking if Jesus “cried for his old man as he bled out” is unlikely to get John booked for a Christian music festival.

Live Review: Kathryn Joseph - Summerhall, Nothing Ever Happens Here, Edinburgh 14 September 2018

17/9/2018

The 2015 SAY-award winning Kathryn Joseph took to the stage at Summerhall to perform an eclectic playthrough of her second studio album From When I Wake The Want Is. The show was as moving and engaging as creatively refreshing and indulgent.

The performance was part of a five-date tour with Glasgow-based art house Cryptic, whose remit is “creating memorable experiences that engage and inspire audiences”. You always know you’re in for something a bit different when you’re handed an A4 piece of paper on the way into the gig which lists all those involved in the performance who won’t be on the stage.

Marcus Mackay was producing the show, and from Cryptic, Markéta Kratochvílová took the intriguing title of “body architect”, the performance was set by James Johnson, with lighting by Nich Smith and direction by Josh Armstrong. Then at the forefront, and alone on the stage, you’ve got Kathryn Joseph, a famously introverted and at times reserved artist renowned for her contrastingly intimate, revealing and poignant lyrics and stunning vocal talents.

This translated from page to reality on a stage consisting of a semi-circle of rectangular mirrors, looking back in at and crowding in on the piano at their centre, where Joseph would take her seat. The piano itself was fitted with further reflections above, looking back down on the musician, and Joseph was dressed in a pink, flesh-coloured trouser suit with skirt belt, and a sort of rope skeleton on top of it, made from climbing ropes and knots within knots.

Joseph herself was split between two gazes - staring directly into the audience as she played or back into one of the mirrors behind her.