Lily & Madeleine at St Pancras Old Church

Lily & Madeleine
Annie Rew Shaw
St Pancras Old Church, 13 February 2014

I never thought I'd be sitting in church listening to a cover of Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box but tonight I did just that. It was thanks to support act Annie Rew Shaw, a 19 year-old singer-songwriter from Devon who plays piano, sounds vocally like a young Linda Thompson and obviously has a few Tori Amos albums in her collection. It's all pleasant enough: she has a great voice, looks sweet and stylish in a black lace mini dress with her dark hair cut with a heavy fringe and amiably chats away to the audience between songs. The music itself though is mainly sad, downbeat ballads and my one criticism is that there's not much let up from the mournful and dark tunes and something a little faster in her set would have made a nice contrast. The highlight was the Nirvana cover, turning the song into, of course, a gloomy ballad. It actually sounded pretty good.

Going to gigs in churches is always an atmospheric affair and not surprisingly the acoustics tend to be fantastic. St Pancras Old Church is a new one to me as a venue anyway and I was surprised how tiny it was inside. Apparently its believed to be one of the oldest churches in England (mentioned in Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities and meeting place for Percey and Mary Shelley) and The Beatles once posed in the graveyard for the photoshoot for The White Album. I'd love to investigate it in the daylight, but on a cold, windy night it was nice to be inside and sitting next to a heater. The actual feel of the place was also warm and the crowd itself seemed good natured and glad to be there. This relaxed, friendly atmosphere was in fact perfect for an acoustic show.

Lily & Madeleine are a folk-duo, two sisters from Indianapolis, who first gained attention from the videos they posted on YouTube. It led to an EP and now a wonderful self-titled album on Sufjan Stevens' label, Asthmatic Kitty, which was easily one of last year's best. Obviously they draw comparisons with First Aid Kit and there is definitely a similarly, not just that beautiful sound when family members harmonise with each other, but also in style, although I'd say they are a little less ethereal than their Swedish counterparts. It's hard to believe they are both still teenagers though: Madeleine is 19 and Lily is, crazily, just 16. Not that you'd know it when they finally take their places on the altar, with Madeleine behind her keyboard and Lily picking up her acoustic guitar, each introducing themselves with warm smiles. 

They begin the set with the song that launched them on YouTube, In The Middle, and despite a feedback-caused set back that forces them to restart the song, they handle it like pros and it sounds every bit as charming and wonderful as you'd imagine. The setting of course helps, it's warm and intimate, almost like having some great singers treating you in your own front room, but of course the beautiful stained glass windows and church candles also give the music an other-worldly feel. Given the girls have apparently only played a handful of gigs it's also impressive the quiet confidence with which they play and the knowing smiles between them as they sing and play together and each song builds. 

The rest of the concert is a mixture of material from their EP, The Weight Of The World, and their debut album, the highlights include the lovely Devil We Know, the sunny and soulful sounding I've Got Freedom and the moody Back To The River, which almost sounds like an old spiritual: perfect really given the setting. The girls also exchange places on some tracks, most notably on the sweetly moving Come To Me and, as a special treat for Valentine's Day, a cover of the Phil Phillips classic, Sea Of Love, although their version was closer to Cat Power's cover rather than the 1959 original, but it was a nice and fitting way to end the show.

Throughout the show the girls seems so happy and grateful we had come out to see them ("I think the show is sold out, our first sold out show overseas!" Madeleine chirped) and were playing such a unique, beautiful venue, which was a lovely, contagious feeling, but really it was us, the audience, who were lucky to catch these talented sisters so early in their career. I'm sure it's going to be a long and successful one.