Project Description

LAUREL

The Corner Hotel, Melbourne

22/5/19

(Live Review)

Supported by CLEWS

Reviewer: Alyssa Borda

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“Brilliantly emotional” – DIY MAG

“Sublime and raw, Laurel is on the rise.” – TRIPLE J

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CLEWS

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The Corner Hotel show commenced with indie pop rock support act, CLEWS @ 9pm. LILY and GRACE RICHARDSON, sisters from MOLLYMOOK, South Coast of NSW, definitely had a unique sound and are receiving sound reviews on Triple J unearthed. Their first song performed was a blend of Country blues with a full band rocking under multi coloured lights. Great vocals too. 

Second song was more indie rock. Moody track. 

‘Perfect Score’ was next. Heavier rock with coastal beach surfer vibes. The crowd was digging it!! 

Fourth song called ‘Teeth’ had the wow factor. Country rock with punk elements. Great song with beautiful vocals. Powerful, emotive performance. Songwriting lovely! Electric guitars sound amazing. 

‘Museum’ was performed next under warm lighting of pink, orange and yellow, so a great ambience was created. Drumming was superb. Positive NRG from the sisters on stage. 

Next up was the song ‘Crushed’ released in November 2018. A very cool song with lovely vocals to match. Contemporary with Moody blues. Rock genre. Melody is great, stunning harmonies and is about the feeling of being overwhelmed. Bass exceptional on this one. 

Last song for the set, sounding like ‘I Will Always Lose?’ was powerful. Sisters singing together, just amazing. Bass player very smooth.  Can not wait to hear more music released from the talented Mollymook sisters!! 

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LAUREL – ‘Life Worth Living’

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After a short wait of around 20 minutes in a packed out crowd, UK indie pop sensation and multi-instrumentalist, LAUREL walked on to The Corner Hotel stage at 10pm to a full house of fans from different age groups from teenagers to a more mature well behaved crowd. Looking understated wearing a retro neutral coloured groovy dress and a co-ordinating headband with glitter eyeshadow she rocked from the word go. She has the most amazingly, haunting, emotive voice that is so fabulous. Quite the global sensation having made her music from her bedroom. She has been critically acclaimed for this. 

‘Lovesick’, released in 2018 from her incredible debut album ‘Dogviolet’ was the first song performed. Just beautiful, soulful. Unique voice! Drums were great. Lights were white, blue and yellow provided by Taylor. Huge applause!!

Second song ‘Crave’ saw Laurel on electric guitar. Drumming was fabulous. Vocals were so crisp, crystal clear. Loved the coo-eee sounds!! Impressive vocal techniques. Soul and funk elements.  She mentioned ‘you guys are really great, first time in Australia, we are all still acclimatising!’ 

‘Hold Tight’ was next…LAUREL mentioned it was ’one of my happier ones’.  Lovely vocals, great range showcased, ripper sound from technician Mick. Love the chamber pop sound. 

‘All Star’ had a cool melody. LAUREL had no guitar for this one. Can relate to these lyrics. Crowd loving it. Mighty applause. 

Next up was ‘Take It Back’, a more mellow song. LONDON GRAMMAR influence felt right here. Bass rocking! ‘Thank you, thank you guys!’ 

‘The next song sounds sad but it is a happy song’ it is about chapters in a book. It is called ‘Sun King’ and is a solo. ‘I’ll make it a great f***** night! It is hard for me singing about someone who died.’ Starts the emotional performance with ‘can’t sing it for you now, I will sing it for you later. Thank you for being patient.’ LAUREL then introduces all the band. 

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Laurel

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‘Life Worth Living’ , first track from the Dogviolet album followed. Beautiful vocals and songwriting popular with the crowd loving it. Stunning guitar work. Huge applause follows. ‘This is a very good first show in Australia’. 

‘South Coast’ song is announced…’it took me ages to get here…I haven’t drunk my Aperol been too busy!’ The song with the absolute wow factor. Dreamy, mellow, blues, rock tune with the drumming being superb. Love it. Powerful, warm lights are supplied whilst LAUREL is hitting the high notes with ease. Silky smooth with an rnb flavour. 

‘Adored’ was the last song for the evening, what a ripper performance!  Three minutes of hot chamber pop. This is the song of the year! With a little profanity, raw emotion and sass, the crowd were really really loving it. Best song. ‘Thank you so much’. 

Encore happened at 10:42pm ..’whilst tuning sometimes I think I am in the wrong profession’… A fan screams out never stop making music! 

Final song….‘Same Mistakes’, an epic 4 minute track for the vocals, songwriting, melody was one of my favourites. LAUREL mentioned….’Appreciate your patience.’ Brilliant performance.  Bass very cool. Crowd singing along. Crowd all lit up. 

Dogviolet has some truly amazing Chamber pop songs with all but three tracks performed on the evening. Truly evocative and effortless. Silky smooth delivery.  Jackson, singer-songwriter from Glen Waverley has been a fan of Dogviolet from word of mouth via friends. He ‘loves the texture of her voice finds it interesting, untamed, contemporary sound with heart and soul plus additional edge’. 

Buy the album as it will be running off the shelves!! 

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Connect with LAUREL

WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / YOUTUBE / SPOTIFY

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AMNPLIFY – DB