The ‘world famous’ Joseph Coward has a touch of Morrissey about him. The deep voice and morose, poetic lyrics have the ring of The Smiths singer, had he found it in him to pick up Johnny Marr’s guitar. During his set at the Shacklewell Arms, I hear another patron say “he reminds me of that singer from Joy Division”. All disenchanted 80s icons in, then. The comparisons are not unwarranted, but what about Joseph Coward himself? The 24 year old singer songwriter has released several EPs and one album to date, and is due to release a second album entitled Win Big Prizes in October. Recent collaborators include Tim Burgess and Thurston Moore among others, but tonight he is here with a finely tuned backing band. The live room is reasonably crowded for his set, with a few people down the front apparently regular attendees. They cheer when he introduces his latest single ‘Peanut Girl’ – a deadpan musing on hookups and crushes. His performance is energetic, tempered by the deep vocal and straight faced delivery. The backing band play as a tight unit, their guitar riffs and drum patterns winding together to fill the small space.
As the set goes on, Coward’s conservative Christian upbringing is evident. His songs are littered with biblical, holy imagery – of gods and prophets and crowns of thorns. At times you get the impression that this might actually hurt. The music is a kind of confessional in the Catholic tradition. Some songs have the markings of more uptempo church hymns, and it’s apparent the style formed his early experiences of music. It’s in these moments he seems most at home. When the band step away for an acoustic performance of ‘Weight’, Coward’s voice – aided by some well timed reverb – soars over the room. On record his collaboration with Thurston Moore is a twitchy, startled creature, but tonight it is more measured. Rather than taking away from the song’s emotional impact, the stripped back approach gives ‘Weight’ a more thoughtful tone.
The band return for the final few songs, but the weighted atmosphere remains until the last chord. Joseph Coward might have fallen in alongside Morrissey and Ian Curtis thirty years ago, but this evening he has proven himself to be more than a homage.
