Lump at Oslo Hackney
Oslo Hackney, 6 June 2018
There's something delightful about going to a gig that starts perfectly on time and ends when it's still daylight out. But then this was an unusual show. A side project for Laura Marling and Tunng's Mike Lindsay, Lump have been performing their short debut album in full, playing both an early and a late show in one night, just like something out of the 1960s.
This is the second night of their two-night run at Oslo Hackney and I can't deny it was a joy to see Marling in a tiny venue (the smallest venue I've seen her in since 2007) and have it end so early (of course the band still had to play another show after this but by then I was safely home and in bed!)
Apparently Marling met Lindsay during one of her support slots to Neil Young a few years back (I was actually at the show they met, at the O2 Arena) and it turned out they were fans of each other as well as old Shakey. I must admit I've never heard Tunng's music but if the new album is anything to go by, I really should, as all the music is by Lindsay with Marling contributing lyrics and vocals. It's a beautiful, unusual and striking collaboration and I was excited to hear how they would sound live.
Coming on in a mist of green smoke (with Marling taking her place last, long after the music has commenced), Marling looks her usual self, in a simple but stylish outfit of jeans and a frilly white blouse. Lindsay looks like a mad folk genius, all beardy, longish hair and smock top, he looks like he could have stepped out of the early 70s. Joining them on stage there's a guitarist/bassist who often swaps instruments with Marling and a drummer who I don't really take much notice of (I am standing at the side of the stage afterall).
They never say a thing throughout the show but just play the album, all six songs (there is a seventh short instrumental called Lump Is A Product on the record, but that is just played over the speakers as they leave the stage) played in exact order. Amusingly they all have set lists (I even nabbed one at the end) with the songs but I can't imagine they had to check them at all given the whole tour has been playing the album straight through every night.
Late To The Flight is a slow burning folk dream with Lindsay providing the guitars and atmospheric keyboard flourishes and Marling closing her eyes and looking lost in the pastoral sounds. May I Be The Light has a more post-punk rhythmic feel, in both Marling's vocals and the plonky keyboards, with Marling taking bass duties before going into a Joni Mitchell-esque chorus (of course, it's hard not to mention Mitchell when talking about Marling).
Rolling Thunder has such a Dylan-esque title but is more brilliantly weird, building into a loud mix of vocals and crashing guitars and Marling loudly calling "I'm your mother! I'm your father!" before falling over her guitar, and thrashing on it as her hair dangles over the strings and Lindsay bounces about in the background. It's great on record but so much better live.
The amazing single Curse Of The Contemporary is next. A lot of reviews of this compare Marling's vocals to Joni (yet again) but to me it owes much more to early Kate Bush, and even the backing music, with Lindsay's twisty and bendy guitars and building rhythm (Cloudbusting, anyone?) is completely out of the Bush playbook I think, albeit wrung through the Lindsay and Marling style.
Hand Hold Hero has a more electronic vibe and again sounds so much more urgent and moving live - think a weirder Beth Orton vibe, but with laid back Dylan-style speak-sing vocals, airy choruses and a pulsing John Carpenter-esque underbeat.
They end, of course, with the last song on the record, Shake Your Shelter. It feels like a wonderfully, wonky dream, with Marling's subdued vocals turning into a echoing stream of voices as you sink underwater into the song. Live the guitars, electronics and layered vocals mix in a truly atmospheric way, the effect feedbacking throughout the small venue as the quartet leave the stage as quietly as they came on.
It was certainly interesting seeing Marling as part of a band and I mean, truly part of a band, not just fronting one, as I've seen her before, where she is most definitely the front person and most important person on stage. As part of Lump she blended in with the other members (well, as much as she could given she's still the most famous member and our eyes are still drawn to her with her striking blonde hair and big frilly blouse), making it feel like it was truly a Lump gig rather than just a Laura Marling
show (which is why I suspect that they kept the music to the new album and didn't throw in solo numbers at the end). I actually really enjoyed this aspect of it and Marling appeared lost in the music at times, enjoying being a musician, rather than completely carrying a show.
At times Lindsay was the most interesting to watch, as he dashed from his guitar to his keyboards, twiddling knobs and effects, and then thrashing at his guitar again and throwing himself around. I can imagine he is a brilliant performer to watch in his own band too, where I'm sure he'd enjoy the luxury of a bigger stage (no one here had too much room to run around).
I have a feeling Lump may well be a one-off kind of affair and we won't get another opportunity to see them blend together like a proper band live again but in many ways, given the show I saw tonight, that's a real shame, because Marling and Lindsay have really created something beautiful and unique together with Lump and I'd more of it please.
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