- I moved to East London just over two years ago, and in that time St John At Hackney has become something of a second home to me. The church's 18th-century architecture and experimental electronic bookings make it one of the capital's most unique live spaces. My latest visit was on Friday, April 15th to see Andy Stott, a performance that promised a preview of his new album a week before its release.
Lakker were supporting, and their latest project, Struggle & Emerge, was a perfect fit for the venue. Centered around an expansive theme—the Netherlands' relationship with water—the show was composed exclusively from archive media sourced from the Netherlands Institute For Sound & Vision. Dara Smith, the visuals half of the Irish duo, held the audience close with a gripping AV set. Emulating the terror of the great flood of 1953, which claimed the lives of 1800 people, the music was, as you might expect, pretty intense. The sheer force of "Maeslantkering Gating," which takes its name from a surge barrier located at the Hook Of Holland, was a definite highlight. When the track finished, the audience broke from their heavy stupor into a zealous applause.
Moments later Andy Stott took to the stage. Aside from the glow of the moon and a single candle to the left of the stage, the only other light was from Stott's laptop. The ground floor was plunged into darkness. Every now and then, moonlight would pierce through the large glass windows, forming wispy patterns on the high ceiling. I watched the shadows shift slowly above while Alison Skidmore's angelic choruses melted into the diving melodies of "Forgotten." It was an otherworldly experience.
Too Many Voices draws heavily from first-wave grime sounds and, according to Stott, is influenced by the work of Theo Burt, David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto. It's very danceable in parts, which inspired some of the crowd to get up out of their seats, though this created a slightly awkward dynamic—at one point someone turned around to a dancing pair and asked them to "stop enjoying themselves so much." (I'm pretty sure they were joking, but still.)
Even so, when the glorious harmonies of the album's biggest track, "Too Many Voices," broke through, the meek crowd couldn't resist erupting into cheers. It was a commanding performance and a bold statement. On my walk home, I wondered if the logical next step for Stott might be to have Skidmore perform onstage alongside him. It shows how far he's shifted—several years ago even the thought of that would have seemed far-fetched.