Live Review: Tiny Ruins, Shining Bird, Aldous Harding - Black Bear

This is Aldous Harding's first time performing outside of New Zealand, but she wins over the decent Tuesday night crowd at the blissfully warm Black Bear Lodge. She plays a kind of gothic, heart-splitting folk that you think wouldn't exist anymore, or, if it did, that there's no way anyone this young would be doing it this well. Her voice is dark and striking, and there are plenty of themes of blood and suffering, offset by her relaxed and confident demeanour. The whole set is the perfect mix of anachronistic fantasy and raw personal stories, Harding half-chuckling while telling the crowd that her self-titled debut album came “from the depths of hell”. She also finishes with a pitch-perfect a cappella version of Edith Piaf's Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, which is pretty goddamn special.

Shining Bird bring a kind of cool uncanny Twin Peaksy feel in their first couple of songs, planted on a strikingly beautiful synth tone and lead singer Dane Taylor's deep, crooning voice. Their impeccable harmonies add depth and drama to this laidback, Australian kind of '80s sound; however, the more jangly guitar-based songs are nowhere near as memorable and, though very pretty, lack the emotional pull of the rest of tonight's line-up.

It feels kind of cheap or lazy to base a review on a band's singer having a 'beautiful voice', but Jesus, Tiny Ruins' Hollie Fullbrook has a beautiful voice. From first song, Me At The Museum, You At The Wintergardens, it's clear that this is going to be a – there's no less lame word for it – magical set, with song after song of impeccably constructed folk music. Fullbrook is completely charming, immediately creating a relaxed and cosy atmosphere for the crowd, many of whom are sitting on the ground cross-legged and gazing up at the band. Every little piece of drawn-out emotional catharsis in these songs is earned, and they're blissfully free of cheap drama or theatrics. Fullbrook is supported impeccably and unobtrusively by backing singer and bass player Cass Basil and drummer Alexander Freer, and the whole band's vibe is very '60s folk scene and effortlessly authentic. Even when Fullbrook explains the mundane anecdotes behind these songs, the stories still seem otherworldly and very special, particularly in set highlights The Ballad Of The Hanging Parcel and Reasonable Man. The band play mostly songs from their recent album Brightly Painted One, but also delve into some older tracks that have a more earnest, naïve tone, but the same core of wonderfully delicate emotional songwriting.  They finish with the darkly gentle She'll Be Coming Around, the kind of track that makes you want to forget it's a school night and stay for one more drink.