Samaris, signed to One Little Indian, get a miniscule supporting slot at The Acid’s Ovalspace London gig, but as anticipated, succeed in winning over the crowd with their oblique electronic low-fi acoustic juxtaposition. Singing mostly in the Icelandic tongue, there are obvious Bjork comparisons but also Natasha Kahn (known more widely as Bat for Lashes), with a similarly hip appeal and elusive stage presence.
Having seen the ambient trio last year at Iceland Airwaves , entrenched in their haunting auditory I was curious about the reception they would receive from London’s fashionable east end, playing in the relatively new Ovalspace, Cambridge Heath’s warehouse space which has already seen the likes of Hudson Mohawke and Thom Yorke. Given a mere half hour support slot it was difficult to say; many outside smoking may have missed this award-winning group. Straight out of Green Man Festival, in which they played a stunning set to an impressed crowd, including Tíbrá and the more hypnotic but wider known Góða Tungl, concluding their set to a room full of awe-filled fashionable types.
Samaris, a relatively new band, formed only in 2011, includes Áslaug Brún Magnúsdóttir on clarinet, Þórður Kári Steinþórsson on synth and Jófríður Ákadóttir’s dissonant, yet harmonious vocals, and are somewhat new-fangled to the UK crowd. However short their set, they appeared to impress, and after speaking briefly with Jófríður about their performance at Airwaves last year, it was evident that they will be on the rise, with many in the audience praising their set, as she was indulging in the headlining act, The Acid.
The Acid, an intriguing collaboration from both sides of the Atlantic, were clearly keen to appeal to the typical Ovalspace crowd; if you glanced over at the merchandise stall this night, you may have spotted homemade tea, Liminal tea, “a blend of sacred plants and herbs to invoke the Liminal” (and if you are not quite sure of this Liminal then it’s the title of The Acid’s new and debut album). This was an ideal venue for this band that has a knack for the electronic hook, with pals that make their own kitsch blends of herbal tea.
Consisting of British DJ and producer Adam Freeland, Californian, Steve Nalepa and Australian RY X (now based in Los Angeles) this collaboration are similarly new and successful to the scene, with their first EP out in 2013 and album out earlier in the summer. Ominously subdued, almost veiled in the gloom of the Ovalspace, The Acid, diffuse their energy into the crowd, witnessing two carrying out their own unique style of dance.
Static sounds build as they take to the stage and dusk guises them almost completely, creating four atmospheric silhouettes. Absorbing, sonically experimental, with visuals paralleling the audio rhythm, working in alliance to give you a clear handle on the audience at this gig. Ry Cuming’s vocals, who one informed me, reminded them of Alexis Taylor (of Hot Chip fame) glassy, yet sparse allowed for the crowd to fall into the herbal hypnosis that copious amounts of the homebrew would no doubt effectively induce.
Modest, understated, ambient, both Samaris and The Acid, this was a gig puzzle which fits, and the porcelain delicacy was potent, beguiling and fueling this curious crowd, and God Is in the TV, inquisitive about what more we can expect out of these evocative artists.
