close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

    • Waxahatchee at Kentish Town Forum Review
    news

    Waxahatchee at Kentish Town Forum Review

    Vaseline Posted on

    It’s hardly Katie Crutchfield’s first rodeo — the Alabama-born artist has been making music as Waxahatchee for over a decade — but her headline show at London’s Kentish Town Forum comes at what feels like a pivotal moment in a long and varied musical career. She’s broken through to a wider audience with her fifth album Saint Cloud in 2020, in March of this year, she followed up with Tigers Blood – a record that took her sincere, country-tinged songwriting to the next level, earning her much praise.

    This is Crutchfield’s first full band show in London since Saint Cloud‘s release (she played a solo show last year), and the crowd is excited, ready for a sing-along. The set starts with Tigers Blood opener “3 Sisters,” Crutchfield’s range, both vocal and emotional, is immediately apparent. As the song gets going and her four bandmates join her, they lay down a comfortable rhythm that’s no less emotional for being impeccably rehearsed.

    “Take my money I don’t work that hard,” she sings on the opening line of the night’s second song, “Evil Spawn,” a statement that couldn’t seem more inaccurate given the clear amount of effort that has gone into not only crafting these songs, but also the delicate, impactful way in which they’re performed live.

    The setlist covers almost the entire tracklist for both Tigers Blood And Saint Cloudwith some selected pieces from Plains—her country duet album with Jess Williamson—is thrown in for good measure. Hardcore fans may be disappointed by the exclusion of her first four records, but aesthetically, there’s not much room for the grit and grunginess of those earlier releases.

    Much has been written about the impact Crutchfield’s sobriety (she quit drinking in 2017) has had on her musical output. While she insists she’s never had a serious problem, the two records she’s written since then seem to come from a place of stability and self-reflection that runs through every line.

    There’s a quiet confidence to Crutchfield’s stage presence and despite a distinct lack of stage chatter she’s an utterly convincing performer, striding gracefully across the stage with her acoustic guitar and flawlessly belting out what feels like a greatest hits set despite it only featuring songs from the last few years. “I’ve been looking forward to this, let me tell you!” she tells the crowd in a rare moment of interaction, seated at the foot of the stage. As they belt out every word of recent single ‘Right Back To It’ at the top of their lungs, it’s clear the feeling is mutual.

    Keep up to date with the best British music by following us on Instagram: @whynowworld and on Twitter/X: @whynowworld

    Vaseline
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like