Date - 30th Jan 2023
Venue - The Joiners
Southampton
Picture: a cold, rather uninviting street situated in the shadow of St Mary’s football stadium, lined with takeaway joints and rough and tumble buildings that have been harassed by the ocean breeze for decades. Standing proud beside a corner shop that loosely resembles a sixties Greengrocers, is The Joiners: a grassroots pub-come-music venue which is celebrating its fifty-fifth year. Housing a whopping 200 capacity, The Joiners is an intimate venue that must be a joy to perform for budding artists and blossoming talent.
On the 30th of January 2023, The Joiners played host to a trio of acts under the umbrella of the Fire Records Label. Namely: THALA, Hater and the headliner: Amber Arcades.
Thala
The first act: THALA had the difficult job of opening the gig.. The 26 year old hailing from Berlin is known -as are all of the nights acts- for a shoegazing, ethereal sound. Thala walked, fairly timidly onto stage sporting a pair of extra wide trousers, huge boots and a red long sleeved shirt. Her stage presence grew with her confidence; she was no doubt a little nervous as this is the first time she has performed in the UK. The crowd was rather sparse, as to be expected on a chilled Monday night; despite a number of technical issues and a late start, Thala sang well. Her lyricism was a particular strongpoint. As a warmup to the headliners, she did an excellent job, raising the level of a crowd that to begin with seemed tame to say the least. Her audience participation was excellent, bringing them into the music with little anecdotes about her songs. Her music could be compared to modern artists such as Snail Mail (who coincidentally Thala has previously opened for) or nineties artists like The Sundays. She prides herself on somber lyrics taking themes and inspiration -as with many young artists- from the covid 19 lockdown period, and using that time to grow her craft. Well worth a listen, Her debut album: Adolescence is available to stream now, with new music on the way, so keep an eye out!
Hater
Following on, came Malmo based dark pop, shoegaze group HATER. They brought a different kind of energy to Thala, they were loud. Certainly the increased noise levels got the crowd going, the different instruments with effected guitars working in tandem to create a soundscape that really heightened the excitement in the room. The lyrics became a little lost in the music, but the studio recordings reveal Caroline Landahl to be a very competent vocalist who’s voice meshes well with the type of sound that Hater are trying to evoke. They played several tracks from their acclaimed album Sincere, which was released in May of 2022. The songs have catchy melodies, and like Thala, bring the nineties forward to the twenty twenties in their compositions and psychedelic sounds. While they didn’t engage the audience through anecdotes and friendly chatter like Thala, Hater captured the crowd with the volume and showmanship of the band. Drummer Rasmus Andersson stood out in particular, and had a couple of solos where he was given the reins to show off his impressive skill with a drum set. Hater’s album Sincere and their previous discography can be found under the Fire Records label.
Finally, the headline act Amber Arcades took to the stage a little before ten PM. The crowd were expectant and excited.The stage name of Anellotte De Graaf, Amber Arcades originates from the Netherlands where she began her music career before a stint in America. Her voice had a very unique tone that complimented the bass heavy music that accompanied her. Following from Hater, her music felt like an amalgamation of the two acts that came before. Again falling under the bracket of shoegaze music, but with elements of modern homemade indie pop that is taking off across the charts through musicians such as Declan Mckenna. It has that dirty, gritty edge that comes from the nineties independent scenes, with the intimate feel of the post lockdown bedroom pop, and is very effective. De Graaf was great at getting the crowd going, although as it was later in the evening perhaps the consumption of beer had begun to take hold. It was certainly the most energetic performance of the night both on stage and off it. The excellent bassist pulled out a fantastic repertoire of dance moves, and the guitarist had mastered the art of rocking on his tip-toes. A very entertaining act, Amber Arcades’ new album Barefoot On Diamond Road releases on the 10th of February on Fire Records…
Amber Arcade
Review by Marvin R
Photography by Dan Reddick