LOVE IS THE ONLY CERTAINTY
Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family @ The Fopp, Tottenham Court Road – Thursday 14 September
The new Fopp on Tottenham Court Road is heaven. When I die, it is where I want to end up, which makes it an oddly appropriate venue to see “Funerals with Frost” as 22-year-old Mancunian Liam Frost calls it. The loss of both his father and brother certainly has had a strong effect on Frost’s music, particularly the movingly beautiful Try Try Try, but don’t worry, it’s not all depressing. On-stage, Frost is like a big kid, revelling in the joy of performing, joking about the perils of singing from the diaphragm (for the unenlightened, it makes you burp) and inventing the T-shirt-hat, which will be the fashion accessory of 2007.
More than that, though, Frost’s emo-tinged lyrics have a sense of hope that makes his songs somehow uplifting, despite the poignant subject matter. In The Mourners Of St Paul’s, for example, “Let the funeral start” is sung with such optimism that you can’t help but think that no matter what happens, everything will be ok. Frost has been accused of being too introspective, but that is what makes his lyrics. They are universal because they are so personal. Musically, however, everyone is in agreement that Frost’s debut offering is stunning. If Tonight We Could Only Sleep is a particular highlight, with haunting backing vocals from Slowdown Family member, Sadie Baker.
After their breathtaking set, Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family are the most loveable people you could ever meet, engaging in joyful banter and group hugs with the fans, posing with the band-stalking lump of concrete known as Mr Brick, and attacking each other with silver pens. It’s only seeing this that you realise just how young Frost and his band mates are, how accomplished they already are, and how much potential they have. Is Liam Frost “the UK’s answer to Bright Eyes” as people are claiming he his? Honestly, no, but then, with so much talent of his own, who would want him to be?
More than that, though, Frost’s emo-tinged lyrics have a sense of hope that makes his songs somehow uplifting, despite the poignant subject matter. In The Mourners Of St Paul’s, for example, “Let the funeral start” is sung with such optimism that you can’t help but think that no matter what happens, everything will be ok. Frost has been accused of being too introspective, but that is what makes his lyrics. They are universal because they are so personal. Musically, however, everyone is in agreement that Frost’s debut offering is stunning. If Tonight We Could Only Sleep is a particular highlight, with haunting backing vocals from Slowdown Family member, Sadie Baker.
After their breathtaking set, Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family are the most loveable people you could ever meet, engaging in joyful banter and group hugs with the fans, posing with the band-stalking lump of concrete known as Mr Brick, and attacking each other with silver pens. It’s only seeing this that you realise just how young Frost and his band mates are, how accomplished they already are, and how much potential they have. Is Liam Frost “the UK’s answer to Bright Eyes” as people are claiming he his? Honestly, no, but then, with so much talent of his own, who would want him to be?
Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family’s debut album, Show Me How The Spectres Dance, is available now on LaVolta.
posted by Earless Toast @ 10:56
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