By Hannah Thompson, First Year English Literature
On Wednesday 10th November, the bowling alley, turned music venue, hosted a new artist to the music scene. Freya Beer only released her debut album Beast last month, yet has already received critical acclaim, especially championed by BBC Radio 6. Her performance in Bristol was the opening of her tour, yet she commanded the room with her art-rock performance and distinctive flair for the gothic noir.
The set began with support from a local Bristol band, Shoun Shoun. Originating from Berlin, their sound was new and exciting, combining sounds of dream pop and garage rock. The use of electric violin in their high energy performance created a heavy yet atmospheric sound which was entirely different to anything I had heard before.
Then Freya Beer took to the stage, accompanied by her three-piece backing band. She bore her trademark aesthetic of red and black, which paralleled the gothic quality of her music sustained throughout. She opened with ‘Beast’, the title song of her new album as the audience fell into a rapture. From the outset, she painted lyrical landscapes blurring reality with fiction and a focus on the intersection of pleasure and pain, seemingly inspired by poets such as Anne Sexton.
A standout of the set for me was her cover of T Rex’s ‘20th Century Boy’. In this song, her band truly came alive, with the iconic commanding bass riff and drums, yet her higher voice created a new element of mystical transcendence to the traditionally rock-and-roll song. She concluded the concert with ‘Dear Sweet Rosie’, the song which has been championed by BBC Radio 6 with vocals reminiscent of PJ Harvey’s commanding tone.
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Despite a lack of interaction with the audience throughout the night, Freya created a mesmerising performance which promise exciting prospects for this upcoming musician.
Featured image: Sonic PR
Have you listened to Freya Beer
