Live Review: Rosie Lowe - Village Underground, London 23/10/2019
Sometimes you see a musician that radiates light and transcends all of your expectations; somehow sounding better than their studio recordings. By subtly stripping things back and allowing the raw nature of her performance to blossom, Rosie Lowe’s stunning show at Village Underground was a lesson in musical mastery.
Dominated by songs from her latest album ‘YU’ Rosie commanded the stage with a sense of belonging. It was the first time she had played the songs in London since the release, and that confession made the stripped-back elements feel full of magic. With the venue being set in a railway arch and filled with bodies on the surface level but with ample space above, Rosie’s vocals were carried all around the room, leading to a special kind of amplification in the reverb-soaked melodies. ‘Royalty’ and ‘Mango’ undertook a morphing into more soulful offerings. The sensual undertones of the lyrical content were perfectly matched by the way Rosie adlibbed breathy notes and at times lost herself in the music whilst sashaying around the stage.
An extended intro of birdsong twittering above our heads and the snippet of ‘Shoulder’ made ‘ITILY’ a dreamier experience. What elevated Rosie’s performances were little soundbites that she controlled on a pad next to her microphone. With this, she experimented with vocal harmonic pedals which also helped control the amount of reverb that seeped through. Accompanied by sparse bass lines, scatterings of guitars, and bathed in golden light ‘Little Bird’ morphed into an anthem of empowerment. An air of confidence filled the space when ‘Pharaoh’ followed up the earnest, electro-synth of ‘Woman’ which perfectly showed the progression that Rosie has been through as an artist.
Whilst letting the music speak for itself for most of the set, there was the odd occasion where we were treated to Rosie’s inner monologue. As someone who moves with such a grace and softness as though everything she does is carefully curated or in slow motion, these moments really added a personal element to the show. ‘UEMM’ and ‘Apologise’ slowed things down a little bit before Rosie picked up the pace again by plugging her dad’s marmalade which was being sold at the merch stand, where she declared she would be after the show. By closing the set with ‘The Way’ and old fan-favourite ‘The Light’ Rosie conjured a great kind of energy. Whilst there’s normally a bit of disorder when leaving a venue, what Rosie left us with was a state of zen.
Words by Tyler Damara Kelly