A year ago, I was up the road reviewing Meursault‘s album launch for their self-titled album. That night the support act was members Fionnbarr Byrne and Emma Capponi with their duo. A year later, roles are reversed, somewhat: Meursault tonight is a solo performance from mainman Neil Pennycook and Joel Cathcart, who was originally at Queen’s, Belfast where he and Fionnbarr were in a band together.
Neil opens with ‘William Henry Miller.’ Originally from the Nothing Broke EP, back in – eek – 2008, stripped down to just Neil and his guitar, it’s a reminder that the songs of Meursault may be taken to all sorts of places as part of a full band line-up, but in their simplest form they remain startling, too. I’m still trying to protest just how great last year’s album was; it’s a great album but in many ways it’s quite harrowing. We may not get the devastating ‘Teacher Was I Wrong To Burn’ but it’s great to hear songs like ‘Nekhla Dog‘ from the Crow Hill LP . And it’s always good to note (especially for those of you who may still not have seen Meursault live in any form) that the performances always have the wonderful counterbalance of Neil’s warm sense of humour.
Joel Cathcart also appears with just himself and his guitar. Now based in Genoa, Italy, his work has a pastoral quality befitting someone who is also a composer and visual artist. His wry humour is demonstrated from the off, when he remarks that his opening song may be a blues or a bossa nova, but it’s about the apocalypse. Right on all three counts, it appears. My long-suffering wife (who gets dragged off to a lot more gigs than she probably envisaged when we first met) tells me before the end of his set she wants to see him again. His third album, False will be due out before the end of the year – complete with graphic novel – and songs like ‘Axolotl’ suggest it will be rather good. He’s also joined by Fionnbarr for a performance of one of their old songs ‘Leviathan.’ I may have been expecting it to be nasty, brutish and short (oh, look it up, for chrisssakes) but it’s really not.
Even as I write the live review, I’m playing Postdam, the Byrne/Capponi album and still trying to take in how good it is. While we may not be treated to the full Aladdin Sane-style makeup Fionnbarr has treated audiences to on occasion, we get both of them delivering a fantastic performance. Emma’s voice and flute is a perfect match for Fionn; however they came together (it is said in Melbourne, Australia) it seems like providence. The set opens with ‘Fainne‘ and ‘Autumn’ and while it’s finally summer in Scotland, this record may well prove the soundtrack to the nights drawing in.
I loved ‘Winter‘ when it came out last year, but it’s being played so often round our place now that I’m not sure how I lived without it. Much like with the aforementioned Meursault album, this is a song which seems so personal; to hear it is to feel you have stumbled across a diary that has been left open by mistake. It’s in contrast to the jazzy observation of ‘Elevator Romantic‘ and shows just what alchemy this pair make. I can’t wait for more from this duo.
A warm and intimate evening, from three acts who can play bigger venues, but it felt a privilege to be here.
