Live Review: Isaac De Heer, McKisko, Michael Julian Johnson

Like the oversized lounge room of a '70s log cabin, Junk Bar in Ashgrove hosts an intimate evening with three flavours of songwriter. Tucked away from the bustling cocktail bar, Michael Julian Johnson opens the evening. His is a voice of extremes, emitting a Kurt Cobain-esque growl one moment, a falsetto note seconds later, much like Birds Of Tokyo/Karnivool frontman Ian Kenny. The songs echo the BOT sound, plus touches of early Radiohead, with open chords and dramatic sweeps of melody. Johnson is a talented performer with strong songs, and while the range of vocal technique adds colour to the songs, they seem overused by the end of the set. Some of the nicest moments happen in between the extremes, like in Home.

Another distinctive voice is that of McKisko aka Helen Franzmann. Revelling in the space and silence of the room (with the occasional and comical breaks of noise when the door opens), her song choices lean to the slow, the haunting, the delicate. I Stepped Out And To The Side is the perfect tragic romance, played achingly and courageously slowly. “My true love came not for me. Will I make my way back? I won't if not with him.” Her words evoke another era, her ethereal voice suspending time. The insistent ostinatos strummed on her diminutive guitar are hypnotising, drawing the songs onward with an undertow of foreboding. McKisko's presence in contrast is warm and unassuming, gently laughing at herself when forgetting a lyric. The Hollow Boat is the spirited and sorrowful final song.

If McKisko's music was the sound of a winter chill, the golden smooth folk of Isaac De Heer is aptly captured in his album title, Summer. His music evokes long car trips through beautiful countryside and nights around bonfires. De Heer's voice is smooth, though it is his instrumentation and melodic arrangements that are his true strength. The introductions and jams in the middle of songs add richness. He swaps between various stringed instruments across the night, from a resonator guitar to banjo to viola caipira, showing considerable talent and style on each. The accompaniment by guitarist David Gatica adds a real depth, the layered slide guitar and vocals helping the songs fill the room. Streets Of Del Mino is jokingly introduced as a cover of a song from a dream that De Heer tried to capture as best he could upon waking, and the arching melody is suitably dreamy. Colca Canyon was written after nearly dying of heat stroke in South America and features a beautiful mandolin-like instrument. Title track and set closer, Summer is a true beauty, with lyrics written by De Heer's grandfather that were found after his passing, arranged to a gentle, nostalgic Bon Iver-reminiscent melody.