Halloween this year fell on a suitably dark, stormy night. But the welcome at The Musician* in Leicester - a much-loved grassroots venue which has hosted many big names over the years - was warm and friendly.
I was really happy that she chose to perform some of her covers, in particular the darkened, strings-supported 'Troublemaker', which in my view is a masterpiece of reimagination, and one that I've enthused over before ... Everything I said in that earlier post still stands true, but having now seen her perform live, even more so. She threw in myriad tiny, subtle touches of vocal inflection, hums and "la la"s, which lifted her music organically. Her encore was her deceptively simple, powerful cover of Tom Odell's 'Another Love' (there's a version on YouTube).
It was an accomplished performance, and a great scene-setter for Alice Robbins who took to the stage after a short changeover, backed by a ridiculously cool three-man band. They haven't been together as a group for long, but gel so well, performing with class, right on the beat, and with positivity. You could tell they were all just happy to be up there playing music for us - when the band wants to be there, everything else just falls into place.
A couple of songs later came 'Lately', Alice's most recent release and a personal favourite. Here, Alice's voice takes on another level of force. "I haven't been myself, lately ..." she enunciates with a new, harsher tone, yet somehow keeping the delivery melodic. It all makes for a really positive listening experience - sometimes amusing, sometimes thought-provoking, always good on the ear.
There was a nod to Halloween with a great cover of Dusty Springfield's 'Spooky', another attitude-filled song called 'Disgrace', and an amazing version of Alice's most popular release, 'Someday/Sometime'. There, Alice's voice became pure, soaring and even more captivating.
Another highlight, providing quite a magical experience, was an exposing and particularly moving performance of a gem of a song called 'Isabella' - about a friend who's been through some very difficult times.
Alice has so much attitude, but she presents that attitude in a very casual, confident and approachable way. She sings with complete feeling, sprinkling in myriad little throw-aways and asides. Alice has a very special kind of voice with a great range: at times bell-like and pure, and at others descending to a whispery, cottony huskiness. Her song-writing is also full of interest with unusual tunings, off-beat flourishes and time-signature changes (although a lot of it tends towards 6/8, a winner of a time signature in my book); this all hangs over the shimmer of wavy, reverby guitars and resonant bass.
Catch Alice on her tour if you can - there's magic in the air when she performs, and you won't want to miss it (check our her Bandcamp page for details).
