Photo: Mark Perlaki
Playing his third tour date at Glasgow's Captain's Rest, Adem (that's Ah-dem) airs his 'Takes' album as a one-piece band operation with just an acoustic guitar, a 100 year old pump organ, and that authentically emotive voice of his. First up, The French Wives are a rousing 6-piece Glaswegian act hankering for a record deal and are looking as bankable as a fat cats annual bonus. It's purty hi-octane all the way, like a My Latest Novel on steroids with the violin lending the Caledonian lilt and one of the lankiest front-men in the bizniz. 'Hurdles' keeps things anthemic with the urgency of a vindaloo dash, while 'Long Lie' holds a nostalgic vintage hue ala-Kinks with trombone adding to the pageantry. Getting the Adem endorsement and bringing a calm hush back is soloist Mary Hampton with haunting vocals pitched between Vashti Bunyan and Marissa Nadler. Naturalistic imagery comes peppered with rag dolls and pure hearts, wolves and pups, as lustrous harmonics are rendered from acoustic guitar, and 'Pygmalion' adds a literary slant accentuated by a song '# 32' about Emily Dickinson who Hampton reminds us didn't give her poems any titles, just numbers.
Surprising it is to hear Adem's only been singing since 2002, even more so that he's mono-aural - deaf in his left ear. With a warm crack in his vocal and a great breadth of range, Adem Illhan is a man who clearly knows how to weight a fishing line. Starting with the slow burners and gathering the audiences ears, Homesongs' 'Statues' suggests to pull your coats around you - "...feel the wind cut through them..." with a wonderfully arresting feeling of space between the notes and verse, while 'Hotellounge' by Belgian outfit dEUS finds a moment for his cheery nature to blossom, explaining how dEUS use Americanisms and how he'd change elevator for lift but the verse loses its' ring, instead delivering an interpretation crackling with energy . Adem let's on he's about to sit at a little red box with cosmic antennae, his trusty 100 year old pump organ which comes with a deep organ-like drone as Adem takes to 'Love & Other Planets' - "...on a clear night/ if you look close enough/ you can make out the other planets...", and switches to a plaintive interpretation of Yo La Tengo's 'Tears Are In Your Eyes' to furnish greater intimacies.
"This is a song about someone you may not love and who may not love you" narrates Adem, but his loss is our gain in the guise of his 'Long Drive Home' and the earnestness leads to a belting moment with tenderness the calling card, the unavoidable narrative friction - "...cos I did the favour here...you look at me like I started a war...", asking "...do you believe in love enough to say so". A cover of Bjork's 'Unravel' has the pump organ with a distinctly Caledonian air, while a track from the sound-check is an admitted rip-off of a Steve Reich tune shows Adem's versatility of musicianship as the pump organ drones the top end and whirling loops form the lower scale.
Adem opens up the stage with an invitation to anyone who can play drums, an offer you don't hear everyday and such is the bon homie, and while he's no Keith Moon he does tap a punchy beat and makes the space for a whooping drum solo to Adem's riffs and verse - "...making music with instruments...". With a warmed larynx, Adem explains 'Waves' as a song about the frustration of drowning knowing that 1/3 of the stuff around you is oxygen, and takes the top notes to task singing "...dreeeeeam your dream of life..." and a strident take on Jeff Buckley's 'Mojo Pin' shows this man is unfailing in his range, capturing the lilt, timbre, cadence and howling breakdowns with "...precious, precious silver and gold/ and pearls in oyster's flesh...". The summery sounding 'Everything You Need' leads to a possibility to one of three songs for a close, but 'These Are Your Friends' is as far as the list goes due to demands, and the drummer picks up the beat singing cheekily "We will we will rock you" in anticipation, and the verses complete the fireside warmth Adem imbues, the crowd rising to the occasion with the rousing singalong - "...everybody needs some help sometimes...". Someone close the Fridge door, his songbook is what he does best.
