- At the back of a small candle-lit church in Brooklyn last Thursday, Josiah Wise sat down in front of a grand piano. The audience faced the other way, towards the pulpit, where a keyboard and a microphone stand sat under a half-dome archway painted with angels and apostles. He twinkled the first notes of "Flickering" from his Tri Angle Records debut, Blisters, and heads turned a few at a time as they realized where the sound was coming from. His delicate, mournful voice joined in. "I'm starting to feel the cord connecting us two is made of gossamer,” he sang. "I'm starting to feel like there's no cord between us two."
Blisters was co-produced by renowned sound architect The Haxan Cloak, and contains a substantial yet subtle electronic touch. "Flickering," for instance, is mostly just Wise's voice backed by reverb-soaked gospel chords, but it's pulled together by clever studio techniques—light clouds of synth, layered vocal harmonies, a thick bedrock of sub-bass. That he could perform this song unplugged, in a room so quiet you could hear the air conditioner overhead, was a testament to the electricity of his presence. After a long, whooping round of applause, Wise strolled to the altar and faced his audience.
"It's ironic for me, you know, being in a church," he joked sheepishly, maybe in reference to the pentagram tattooed on his forehead, or to his queer, otherworldly R&B, which he describes as "pagan gospel." That gospel influence is complemented by his classical inclinations, especially on songs like "Four Ethers," which has an instrumental built from swelling violins, french horn and timpani. This is his most grandiose number, and for his live performance it could have used something more than just a backing track—maybe singers or string players. But his charm carried the show, despite the shoestring setup.
Wise peppered his set with a handful of curveball covers. First there was a snip of Ella Fitzgerald's "My Funny Valentine," then a freewheeling take on Antônio Carlos Jobim's bossa nova classic “Waters Of March." He gave uplifting little talks between songs, and at one point led the audience in a call-and-response incantation, where he made us promise to be kinder and more loving to each other. The night ended with a reprise of "Four Ethers," and this time he had settled into himself. Wise may have intitially felt strange about performing at the base of a marble crucifix, with a group of friars watching on from the wings. But by the end of the show he seemed to be enjoying his sermon.
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The Lot Radio