HYETAL
Birthdays, Dalston | June 17th
Following the release of his acclaimed new LP Modern Worship on True Panther Sounds earlier this month, Bristol’s Hyetal visits Dalston to offer this free show at Birthdays.
There’s a sense of intrigue around Dave Corney’s new live show. Alison Garner, who provided vocals for his 2011 debut LP Broadcast as well as this latest effort, has now joined a set-up which also features former Golden Silver Gwilym Gold. The new record sees Corney move away from the more abstract sounds of his 2011 debut to create a clearer and more decisive-sounding piece, with vocals from the aforementioned contributors at the centre of some of the album’s finest moments.
The duo’s presence on Modern Worship is such that you feel their addition to this live realisation may well push Hyetal up a notch. However, what grabs us most when we enter the basement venue is the gorgeous din being made by London producer Patten. He’s blasting out a dizzying, gorgeous mess of constantly varying off-kilter beats and interjections. If you listen hard it’s sort of difficult to see how it all works so well together, and indeed how the end product can be so euphoric. Either way, our Monday blues are gone by the time he’s finished his set. Worth giving his 2011 debut EP, GLAQJO XAACSO a listen if you missed it first time around.
As soon as the headline act takes the stage it’s clear Garner and Gold’s contributions will extend beyond their vocals, the former lining up to our left behind a sampler and the latter behind a synth to our right. Whilst Corney undoubtedly forms the heart of the sound, it’s intriguing to see Hyetal essentially operating as a three-member collective. Garner’s voice remains a perfect compliment to the swelling atmospherics, floating sublimely through the density of The City Is Ours. Gwilym Gold also demonstrates what an asset he is – his echoing croons add a soothing layer to Northwest Passage, while he provides deft touches of synth on the likes of the stuttering Lake Rider. This unique sound, at once synthetic and organic, drills home how far Corney has come in his journey as Hyetal, as well as how versatile and thrilling a talent he undoubtedly is.
The Hyetal we witness tonight is a total triumph; not just in giving a faithful and vital performance of an album that so could easily have lost much of its power in the live setting, but in proving that with a little bravery, ambition and invention, electronic music can translate, and even be expanded, as a live experience.
– – – – – – – – – –
Words: Jack Bolter
CONNECT TO CRACK
