Live Review: Julia Holter, Felicity Groom, Jacob Diamond

A natural fit with the acts that were to follow, singer-guitarist Jacob Diamond gave the impression of someone who is charming and personable, believable and real. A little jitteriness came through in his quiet-LOUD singing style to begin with, making his delivery seem a tad forced, but against the backdrop of some Deep Blue Delay set to Oceanic Reverb, he premiered a new song with the working title 'New Museum'. Sounding like an enchanting place to wander 'round, or possibly meet a hot date, he offered a tantalising glimpse of his talent.

If Jacob Diamond’s music had some compatibility with Julia Holter’s, Felicity Groom could almost be her understudy, given the avant dream-pop similarities. Now operating as a three-piece, Groom has never sounded stronger, reaping rewards from the fertile contradiction of icy keys against a human rhythm section. With an album in the pipeline, she too introduced some freshly minted material in the form of tantric goth mantras, delivered with a fine sense of arms-outstretched theatre.  

Having only previously appeared in WA at festivals, this was Julia Holter’s first foray into an intimate Perth venue, the kind of setting where her intricate and emotionally complex music could establish a genuine bond with her audience. Her songs are conceptual rather than personal, but she poured into them an expressiveness that was nuanced and committed, fluctuating between closed eyes, as if picturing a scene, and facial expressions so transparent you could almost see what she was thinking. It had a rhapsodic effect on the crowd, who fell into a hushed reverence. Whispered comments were fired like soft, ecstatic darts amid the tense atmosphere of expectation; a spell only slightly broken by the intermittent gurgle of the bar’s soft drinks dispenser.

Five multi-instrumentalists helped Holter construct her sound world with a dizzying range of tools, from muted trumpets and crystalline keys to Dina Maccabee’s eloquent viola. They skilfully balanced the escapist fantasy of Feel You with the heart-palpitating crescendos of Les Jeux To You and I Shall Love 2, before closing the night with a spellbinding Betsy On The Roof, which transformed from near silence to soaring heights in the space of a heartbeat. It felt like Holter had established a real connection with the audience, one she was happy to foster as she chatted to fans at length afterwards.