Julia Jacklin at the Roundhouse

Julia Jacklin

Erin Rae

Roundhouse, 11 November 2022

I admit was late to the party for Julia Jacklin, only discovering her after her second album Crushing was already getting rave reviews. But I loved it from first listen and was desperate to see her live. Unfortunately a lot of others felt the same way and had discovered her earlier so her tour at the time was sold out. Luckily, three years on I finally got the chance to experience her live and it was well worth the wait and the cherry on top was the fact that the brilliant Erin Rae was also on the bill.

Nashville singer/songwriter Erin Rae's third album, Lighten Up, came out at the beginning of the year and because of that may well be forgotten in some end of the year lists, but for me it's one of 2022's best. What a treat then to get two of my faves on one bill and it was rather nice to actually be excited to see the opening act for once. Rae arrived on stage in a modest long blue dress that, I have to say looked like something the "sister-wives" from a Mormon cult would be forced to wear. Not that she looked bad, she looked cute as a button, but she really did look like she had stepped out of another century.

Rae only had her acoustic guitar accompanying her tonight and despite the full electric sound of her record, still sounded incredible: a testament to the songs and her voice. She began her set with an early track called Crazy Talk, a very pretty ballad about not listening to negative thoughts. The audience seemed immediately captivated and Rae herself was charming and sweet. There were a couple of tracks from her second LP, Putting On Airs (Love Like Before and Bad Mind) but mainly she treated us to songs from Lighten Up, the title of which she admitted was a message to herself. In particular True Love's Face (written so she would open up to the possibility of love) and, also one of the album's highlights, Candy & Curry.

After her set I saw the teen next to me looking Rae up on Spotify and following her, which was lovely. The older couple on the other side of me though didn't enjoy her set, saying she was "too Nashville." I thought she was excellent and a brilliant match for Julia Jacklin on tour. But I guess not everyone has my good taste!

Last time Jacklin played at the London Forum, so selling out the Roundhouse definitely shows her star is on the rise. Of course it doesn't hurt she is touring on the back of her latest acclaimed album, Pre Pleasure, a wonderful moody and atmospheric record that I knew would translate beautifully live: I was not proved wrong.

After an amusing pre-show play of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On (getting everyone in the mood), the show started rather nicely too, with Jacklin, sporting a rather smart red suit, playing the first number alone on stage : the title track from her first LP, Don't Let The Kids Win, easing us in to the noisier numbers.

Her mainly female band then join her (only the guitarist is male, which is pretty cool), and they launch into the first new number Be Careful With Yourself, the band getting into a driving groove and harmonising nicely with Jacklin. After the lovely non-album pandemic-inspired single To Perth, Before The Border Closes, the rest of the set was a brilliant mix of tracks from all three of her albums, with Jacklin sometimes forgoing her guitar to roam around the stage with her mike and occasionally striking her chimes, which always excited the crowd amusingly.

Nearer the end of the show, Jacklin jokingly announced "now for the hits!" and in a way they were because all were absolutely thrilling to hear live. My absolute favourite Jacklin track is a Neil Young-esque burner called I Don't Know How To Keep Loving You, which to me has a Cortez The Killer vibe, the highest praise I can give! It's a soaring heart-breaker of a song that was meant to be played live, and Jacklin and her superb band didn't disappoint. Absolute magic.

The rockiest song on the new record, I Was Neon, got the crowd jumping and sounded great, and Head Alone, despite its sorrowful tone, had the crowd singing along to the "I raised my body up to be mine" chorus and ended with a glorious wall of noisy guitar, raising the spirits of everybody in the Roundhouse. 

Jacklin checked if there was time for more and gave us the brilliant, fast paced, Pressure To Party, which ironically was no pressure at all to feel energised by and had everyone partying, well, dancing at least. She admitted this was to be the last song before the encore but, like the last show I went to, Jacklin said she didn't want to pretend to go off stage, "just imagine I have" she told us, before pretending to be us and chanting "encore! encore!" Turns out Jacklin is funny too and it's rather nice to hear her Aussie accent.

So the encore, wasn't really an encore just a final song, but it was a great one, Hay Plain, another from her debut record, that slowly built to a beautiful sonic wall of noise. She exited to cheers and again came the strains of Dion's My Heart Will Go On, which the obviously very happy crowd started singing along to full of joy. Julia Jacklin makes music filled with heartbreak but she leaves you soaring too, a bit like singing along to a song from Titanic like you are Kate and Leo holding out your arms on the front of that famed ship, in fact, and that's pretty damn cool.