Luke Brennan Band ease the intimate vibes and anticipation in the Golden Age Cinema & Bar last night with their slow rock love songs. Mixed with country and folk elements, the melancholy lows occasionally reach for driving heights such as in One True Love, a height at which they are strongest.
The heavy golden curtains are drawn again as Leah Senior stands alone in a Picasso-eque dress while her sister Andi Senior is in black. "This is a song about dating a very handsome boring man for a couple of weeks," says Leah before playing the title track from her second album Pretty Faces. Senior hints at something special here, and her voice is one of those rare gems, quickly blanketing the audience in a thick silence. The dulcet sibling harmonies hailed an eerie togetherness compounded by the wistful lyrics.
Accompanied by her band now (with Luke Brennan on drums) Senior plays another new tune, You Were Not Fit For The Day. It's hard not to be moved here with a chorus reminiscent of Tim Buckley's finest, building so that harmonic guitar work turns over floating melodies as Leah sways on dreamily. Her shy anecdotal introduction of each song adds to the lyrical quality - one song for instance was written after Leah "went to a year six dance as David Bowie and nobody danced with her." All My Friends closed the set ultimately leaving on a happy note with a wave of cheers and whistles, confirming Pretty Faces as an album worthy of a listen.
