03/03/14 @ Cluny 2, Newcastle
NARC. May 2014
The fresh-faced offerings from the London-based Communion label graced the Cluny 2 as part of their national tour as four fledgling beacons for new music. The evening peaked early with Annie Eve's silky smooth tones and Farewell J.R's weave of ethereal layers and folky vocals before the commercially-friendly Eliza and The Bear hopped, skipped and jumped into Lumineers-esque fist-pumping choruses fated for festival singalongs. The sprightly fivesome will undoubtedly be appearing on the soundtrack of every festival montage VT this summer.
Having been longlisted for BBC's Sound of 2014 accolade, my expectations of Luke Sital-Singh as headliner were high. His faultless vocal ability seemed almost mismatched to the predictable, repetitive lyrics of his self-penned anthems. I couldn't help but compare the overly sentimental choruses of 'Greatest Lovers' and 'Nothing Stays The Same' to something which could easily be scattered in gold confetti and revealed as the American Idol winner's song. The well-spoken young singer-songwriter had perfected the inter-song audience patter, and with his closed-eyed catchy ballads I have no doubt he'll be the next Ben Howard or Benjamin Francis Leftwich, but his candid tunes are bordering on cheesy pop which needs to make like a cheddar and mature.
