Daughter Grow Up At London's Immense Somerset House
Published
You’d be pushed to find a more beautiful venue in London, especially when there's a cloudless sunset overhead.
Before a sold out audience in the Somerset House courtyard, Daughter were one of the lucky selected bands to headline a night at the infamous annual Summer Series. The three-piece, comprised of members originating from England, Switzerland and France, were clearly humbled by the occasion. The regular thanks to the audience came in droves and the nervous silences between songs was deafening. This said, when sound was created on the modest stage it was absolutely magnificent. Daughter’s folk pop was bewitching throughout, with their spooky intensity (easily comparable to that of the xx) fitting the setting perfectly. Opening with the haunting ‘Drift’, the band methodically entwined their new 4AD material with older tracks throughout the set, including crowd favourites ‘Candle’, ‘Still’ and ‘Human’. Sometimes the vocals of Elena Tonra were too quiet, and – juxtaposing this - Igor Haefeli’s guitar could be too loud (leading to a broken amp at one point), but at no point did this seem to tarnish the performance. Tonra’s lyrics were always clear in spite of the fluctuating volume, with her frequently morose undertones (“If you’re in love then you’re the lucky one / Cause most of us are bitter over someone”) reflective of Laura Marling with some black hair dye and Jeff Buckley playing on loop. Unfortunately, as of the visible music stands flanking the band throughout the show, the encore’s ‘surprise’ didn’t quite carry the gravitas the group would have hoped for, but nonetheless the introduction of the impressive Air Studios band was the perfect compliment for closing tracks ‘Youth’ and ‘Amsterdam’. Backed by brass and woodwind Daughter’s beautiful music took on a more magical element, wholly befitting the event. As a band that has been generating interest for a couple of years now, including headline shows at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, public and critic interest in Daughter has always been simmering nicely. However, with a second album on their highly regarded label soon to be due and a simply captivating live show, it’s surely only a matter of time before the water starts bubbling. http://www.ohdaughter.com/ http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/music/summer-series-2014
