There’s no doubt that it has been a pretty gloomy winter here in Melbourne. That’s why a really beautiful album released in the midst of the season feels like a godsend, Two Steps On The Water’s God Forbid Anyone Look Me In The Eye seeming to come at the perfect time.
RVG kick the night off. The four-piece are reminiscent of Australian new wave bands such as The Sports. Frontwoman Romy Vager – hence the band’s name- holds the full attention of an already packed room full of early comers, with her resounding, powerful voice, storytelling lyrics and playful humour, it’s hard to turn away.
Camp Cope and TSOTW have proved to be a dream team across the year. They’ve now both supported each other’s respective album launches, and both filled special guest slots at Screaming Females’ show two weeks ago. The trio deliver a set full of bravery, when Georgia Maq becomes breathless from singing, it feels a true testament to her heart and unrelenting energy.
The most wonderful thing about this album launch, is that it’s not really an album launch as such, it’s a celebration of Two Steps On The Water’s constant output of work, and a looking forward to the future. The only track from the album that the trio play is Ships In The Night. The overwhelmingly bittersweet, lustrous sounds of Sienna Thornton’s violin as June Jones admits “I don’t wanna be in love anymore,” leaving punters with lumps in their throat.
Rather than the typical set up of drummer Jonathan Nash being relegated to the back, the three musicians performed in a line, a true reflection of the band’s integrity and effect – all three members have an equally important role in contributing to the emotional and sonic palette of their songwriting and performance. June Jones is enormously warm, charismatic and witty, but paramountly, she is heart-rending. The emotional spectrum in her voice is unpredictable, wild and visceral. It feels like every word, whether it was shrieked or lowly hummed, dripped with sincerity. Two Steps On The Water end on a track that has Jones “feeling less like Frankenstein’s monster, and more like a bolt of lightning.” The song ends in a howling collapse of musical structure. Jones abandons her guitar, tears the microphone from its stand and screams her last few words over Nash’s final symbol crashes, and the sounds of Thornton’s frenzied, jarring violin arriving to a slow crumble. It’s an unforgettable way to finish the night, leaving the audience needing no encore.
WORDS BY JESS ZANONI
IMAGE BY IAN LAIDLAW
LOVED: Every minute of every band.
HATED: Security not letting ticket holders into the venue at the start for no apparent reason.
DRANK: Water.
