For the majority of you who are unfamiliar with Emilliana Torrini she is an Icelandic alternative folk singer originating from Kopavoger. Many of you will be blissfully unaware that Emilliana in fact, co–wrote Kyle Minogue songs ‘Slow’ and ‘Someday’, and as well as this she has toured with major artists’ including Sting, Dido, and Travis. However, she is best known for her 1999 album ‘Love In The Time’ and her performance of ‘Gollem’s Song’ during the end credits of ‘Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers’. Tonight she brings her talents to the streets of Manchester.
An hour after the doors had opened (by this time it had given the students plenty of time to consume at least 4 of the overly priced beers that the bar were selling) a timid and lonesome figure walks onto the stage accompanied by just an acoustic guitar. The female solo act going by the name of Alessi’s Ark received a very warm welcome from the surprisingly heavily populated venue early on. Sporting a very dainty floral printed dress and long wavy hair she introduces herself speaking with a soft and angelic voice. “I’ve played here in Manchester before at the Night and Day, erm, and the first time I ever played ever was at the Night and Day when I was 14. But this is somewhere new tonight”. This caused some laughter and applause from the warm hearted audience.
Opening with “The Bird Song” Alessi’s Ark appears nervous with an unconvincing start, which worsens when she pauses half way though the song having played the wrong chord. However, the nerves begin to fade somewhat by second song ‘The Dog’, her vocals are not to dissimilar to that of the main act Emilliana Torrini although much softer and more soothing. Her vocals tend to conjure up the image of a romantic candle lit dinner or a relaxing bubble bath. As the set progresses, her self confidence begins to grow considerably and she begins reciting the previous days outings to Lake Windermere and how nice it was that she bought an ice cream. By this time people were pouring in for the headline act, and the reaction to her ‘storys and jokes’ was more prominent. Alessi’s Ark completed the set with the beautiful song‘Hummigbird’. "You are set free, flex your wings and steal me away"just displays some of the beauty conveyed in the lyrics and accompanied with an acoustic guitar completes the mesmerising feel that is on so many of the crowds faces.
What endeared me most about Alessi’s Ark is the vulnerability and genuine gratitude she had towards the audience, because this is very hard to come by with many acts.
Emilliana Torrini finally emerges to be greeted by an eruption of cheers and whistles among the crowd. She begins with the song ‘Hold Heart’ which consisted of a plucked acoustic guitar and maracas, the minimalist effects working perfectly with almost tortured sounding vocals. This song merits a great reaction of cheering and applause from the crowd. ‘Nothing Brings Me Down’ is Bjork–esque, beginning with a walking bass line and her trademark vocals creeping in over the light strumming of an acoustic guitar. It progresses into a stronger, more assured song, with a simple yet effective drumbeat that glues the song together, yet you can hear a simple chord progression played by keys that keeps the folk element of the song but makes it ever stronger until the climax.
Emilliana, like the support act also is a fan of telling recent experiences within her life to fans. Simply for the reason that the majority of her songs are in a different key to one another, much to the annoyance of the band that’s playing with her. “Once I was going to the toilet before a concert one time, and I took a picture of a piece of art on the toilet door , and the woman next to me ran out of the toilet and started screaming at me, saying ‘why were you taking a picture of me?’. I had to ring my manager to get me out! So I’m now known as a toilet pervert!”. One story she relates to Manchester saying “I came out of my hotel and saw these two girls trying to pick a fight with a cab driver, I knew I was in Manchester!”.
Some crowd favourites played during the set were; ‘Big jumps’, ‘Gun’, and the current single ‘Jungle Drum’, which along with 'Gun' is a personal favourite of mine. 'Jungle Drum' was written about Emilliana’s current boyfriend and how she fell madly in love with him, the lyrics ‘My heart is beating like a Jungle Drum’ conveying this perfectly.
The eagerly awaited album ‘Me and Amani’ including all of the above tracks is now available for purchase or digital download from itunes.
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