In the space of a few short weeks, Luke Saxton – the first of three young English musicians to take to the Duchess stage this evening – has overhauled his stage persona. He has ditched that shy, awkward teenager and replaced him with a far more assured live performer. With this newly found confidence Saxton imbues his songs with an even greater gravitas and maturity. Showcasing material from his forthcoming debut album Sunny Sadness, the nineteen year old from York proves that he is not merely another confessional singer-songwriter as he deftly controls the emotional tension that exists between romantic success and failure. The bright tenderness of new song, the Beatles-esque ‘Dear Friend Of Mine’ affirms that there is already life for Saxton well beyond the release of his first record.
Another man who is also carving out a deservedly strong reputation for himself locally is Sam Griffiths. A couple of years Saxton’s senior, and whether it is by accident or design, he blows onto the stage to the refrain of Bob Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’. And Dylan’s influence on Griffiths’ songwriting is apparent in the manner in which both men can effortlessly connect to their individual blues-folk roots. Griffiths’ voice enriches the timeless vein of ‘Remedy and Rust’ just as easily as it does his cover of ‘Heart Of Glass’ where he reworks the Blondie 1979 chart-topper into an old-time blues dirge.
With four exceptional EPs already to her name and her debut album We Slept At Last lying in wait on the New Year horizon, it is hard to believe that Marika Hackman is still only 22 years of age. Flanked by her two male cohorts on keys and drums, Hackman populates her set with songs from her new record, each one pushing ever further at the darker corners of her folk inception. New single ‘Drown’, juxtaposed as it is tonight with her very first single ‘You Come Down’, measures the distance that she has travelled in the interim and illustrates just how much her sound has evolved.
Much of Hackman’s songwriting is located in deep shadow; crepuscular thoughts wreathed in a dark amalgam of grunge and folk. Yet for all of its innate gloom her music is leavened by glimpses of gentle humour and fairytale imagery. ‘Before I Sleep’ captures these apparent contradictions and her reading of Joanna Newsom’s ’81 shows how you can best construct a feeling of beautifully restrained melancholy. And then as if to confound expectations even further, Marika Hackman signs off with a remarkable, rousing rendition of ‘Cinnamon’.
More photos from this evening’s show can be found below:
Luke Saxton’s album Sunny Sadness will be released on 24th November 2014 through Bad Paintings and The Inkwell, the York vinyl record and book shop.
Marika Hackman’s album We Slept At Last is out on 16th February 2015 via Dirty Hit Records
