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REVIEW: LUKE SITAL-SINGH LIVE AT THE TUNNELS; APRIL 12, 2019

Photo Credits: Andrew Watson The Tunnels is one of the key venues in Aberdeen to put on and promote young, local bands. Last night, the underground cavernous venue in more or less the Aberdeen City centre hosted an artist of sizeable footprint upon the music industry.

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To put it another way, his lead single, “Killing Me”, from sophomore album, Time Is A Riddle, has had 10,000,000 plays on Spotify. Not only that, his combined streams since 2015 are at almost 120,000,000. The weather was not bad for April, encouraging a reasonable turnout. There were three acts to pin your ears back for. Headliner, Luke Sital-Singh, with Mike Baillie and Arron Smith in supporting slots.

Kicking off this gig was Aaron Smith, an acoustic Scottish singer songwriter. A good way to kick off proceedings and get punters in the mood for the night ahead. He’s toured a lot, he’s a strong performer for the opening act, which was testament to the strength of the other two. He was earnest and gutsy; with light and airy highs, too. “D’you guys want to come up front, or not,” he teased a typically reticent Aberdeen crowd. Those said impossible highs were becoming a hallmark throughout his set. Down the other end were mighty bellows of power. This matched with despondent strum, one particular song then soared as if to take flight.

Main support was Edinburgh’s self-ascribed songwriter, dreamcatcher and musician, Mike Baillie. The brains behind band, The Lonely Together, was, in this instance, striking out on his own. Said band are described in a way perhaps apt in regards to himself, that of an alternative dreampop band from Scotland, “…carving a mysterious path through love and sadness, hope and anger, beauty and pain.” Once again, the crowd needed some polite prodding. “…really delighted you’ve got those bench seats but, come on, it’s Friday.” The opening track sedate, now emphatic of strum. The amplified guitar stark in its contrast to the opening acoustic act. Really taking by surprise, singing quite light and melodic. Next, spaced out, atmospheric guitar. Ambient met with, “I’ve found comfort in you.” Track, “Congregation”, followed. “…decency and honesty don’t mean sh*t in this town.” Did he also namecheck Aberdeen subsequently, piquing the crowd’s interest? Anyway, “If only everybody said what they’re feeling inside, to the congregation.” During a brief quiet after said track, laughter was heard at the back of the venue, beside the bar and immediately behind the dancefloor. “That was a good snort. Proud of you,” he joshed gently. “Please say goodnight” was the subsequent track’s ending refrain. A rarely played track, “Feel Real Love”, was impassioned with lines like, “If anyone hurts you, tell me”. Really lost in the moment. “Cycle Of Sadness” was impassioned and grave. “I’ve been charged with warming you up. This airplane hanger is very cold tonight,” Mike said of The Tunnels. Then followed an attempt at some crowd participation. Sing louder. A good attempt at that, they got quite vocal, though initially shy.

Headline act, Luke Sital-Singh, was born in west London, studied in Brighton and’s currently based in Bristol and set to relocate to Los Angeles this year. He signed to Parlophone Records, who released his debut album, The Fire Inside in 2014. In 2017 came his critically acclaimed sophomore record, Time Is A Riddle. Two Fridays ago (April 5) saw the third album, A Golden State, released by the singer songwriter. Luke explains the general mood of his music, saying, “I like writing about the heavy things. There’s a lot of shallow stuff out there and that’s fine for a certain context. My fun is diving as deep as I can. Inside myself and, if I can, inside others and writing songs that are as honest as I can make them. Honest to the struggles we all face, the sadness but more importantly, the hope.” Luke, who started opening for artists such as Villagers, The Staves, Martha Wainwright and Angus & Julia Stone, began “Still”. “Something in the back of my mind is running scared,” something husky in the voice. “Innocence” was suitably calm and sedate. Then the vocal soared, mighty. A Golden State song, “”Raise Well”, dealt with the monumental implication of having children. Lines like, “Imagine his tiny hands” really revealed the prospects of having kids. Then there was the touching, “I don’t want to raise hell/I just want to raise well.” “You’re very quiet,” he said to those out front, no danger of rude interruption. “That’s good, I like it.” As said, he’s in the process of moving to “Los Angeles”. This also off latest album, A Golden State. He revealed what appeared to be one of the stage props cost him £45 from a garden centre, with one of the crowd quipping, “Claim it on expenses.” This transatlantic track was wistful, moody and introspective. His fingers outstretched in a massive show of dexterity. “Time Is A Riddle” was the tragic building into rousing. Then into “Nearly Morning”. “This is a song from my first album that I still like.” The track sombre, some couples out front swaying gently. Clanging keys built the volume; then paring down, again. “When I touch the strings I must complete the circuit,” he mused, regarding the old style almost moth catcher lights he’d had hung behind him, causing some feedback and laughter from a humoured audience. His chords grew bold, them ending as delicately as anything. After this, “21st Century Heartbeat” was ponderous growing rousing. The fingerpicking reflective of all this. Vocal refrain ending both touching and powerful. The piano was suitably funereal in the aforementioned “Killing Me”, the vocal reflecting the sentimental, to some degree, permeating. This set against the slightly jarring line, “You won’t believe/The wonders I can see”. This sung in the voice of his grandmother, addressing his grandfather who died ten years ago.

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Another track off A Golden State, “The Last Day”, had Luke commenting, “You look as depressed as you should be.” During this a natural pause in his playing, whether reacting to the crowd or something else, human and organic. This track imagining his own death, maybe the pause perhaps his soul’s exit from this mortal plane. “Nothing Stays The Same” contemplative picking, alongside that warm, husky voice. Vocal refrain inspired before assured strum matched venom of conviction. Biggest cheer of the night. “This is the last song, there’s other f*cking songs after.” So went the preamble to “Hearts Attach”, from A Golden State. A gospel sort of grandness to this one. The deceptive title of “Fail For You” crashed and burned in its melancholy. Or, rather, striving to do anything but with, “I will be/Your victory”. This meant with whistling and hollering. Second encore, and closer, came in the shape “Benediction”. “I’ve got my little shop. I’ll been flogging sh*te to you,” he said of his merchandise set up at the back of the room, beside the door. Anyway, this had an endearing vocal, not perfect but purging in its unabashed authentic purity. That final, sustained note floating into the ethereal realm.

Luke Sital-Singh’s A Golden State can be bought on iTunes, here. Also visit his Spotify, Google Play Music, Deezer, TuneIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Soundcloud pages to keep tabs on Luke Sital-Singh.

#The Tunnels #Killing Me #Luke Sital-Singh #Mike Baillie #Arron Smith #The Lonely Together #The Fire Inside #Time Is A Riddle #A Golden State #Villagers #The Staves #Martha Wainwright #Angus & Julia Stone

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