An afternoon of gothic horror and glockenspiels at The Forge Camden from a powerhouse trio embellished with a caramel-toned saxophonist. That would be my Twitter review.
If John Law’s recent Boink! project felt like a work in progress, this New Congregation is fully formed and the new album These Skies In Which We Rust eagerly awaited. For those of us who struggle with change in favourite bands, the loss of the mercurial Asaf Sirkis is more than compensated by the quietly brooding figure of Laurie Lowe on percussion. And as always, there is the poised, focussed bass of Yuri Goloubev whose arco playing stops your heart.
We heard the trio in the first set with the bonus of Josh Arcoleo in the second (who made light work of a tricky time signature in Lucky 13), and together they introduced us to eleven compositions, many of whom will become old favourites for their catchiness (Set Theory, 789 ) or because they haul you up short – the jagged, stabbing, tumbling horror of Incarnadine Day, the wry humour of To do Today: to Die.
In lesser hands, the electromagnetic pulses from outer space, the battery of keyboards, the fiddling with iPad, an Ibo drum, the snatches of vocals, the bits of Brahms, the changes in mood and emotion through the concert would feel unsettling or gimmicky. But not here, they are satisfying, fluent, glimpses of what promises to be a very good album indeed. An extremely enjoyable afternoon.
If you would like to support this project, John Law’s New Congregation These Skies in Which We Rust, (and I recommend that you do) you can do so here.
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