Photo: WENN.com
Ladyhawke - or Phillipa Brown when she takes her enigmatic stage hat off - has moderated her output. Ubiquity can be a real pain, and in light of Rihanna’s unprecedented flurry, restraint is welcomed. There’s a medium to be struck though, and waiting four years to build on the sound and success of your debut record is all kinds of indolent.
So with such a wait for new material from the New Zealand singer, the content of forthcoming album ‘Anxiety’ must surely be the result of a fantastic artistic endeavour; a gestation period triumphantly concluded by the sound of barriers being breached. Brando bloated in the jungle. OK Computer.
I’m getting ahead of myself, because it was slightly disheartening to hear the return of Ladyhawke characterised by repetitive choruses rather than anything more interesting. ‘Paris is Burning’ and ‘My Delirium’ are great pop songs, and though it doesn't take half a decade (give or take) to write a couple more tunes in the same vein, more of the same would have sufficed. Alas, nothing as punchy or immediate surfaced at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Friday night.
Ladyhawke emerged in the mid-noughties as a kind of interesting, androgynous entity; swept to our shores from down under, she rode the indie wave all the way to the NME Awards and an 'International Female Solo Act' Brit nomination. This, however, was an atrophied indie scene, and the effects of the excitement she once elicited have morphed in interesting ways. The west London crowd that greeted her return at the weekend was a mature group, and the music she showcased suggests she’s comfortable catering for her fellow 30-somethings.
Her set was a predictable blend of old and new, the two aforementioned singles tossed in towards the end after ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ and ‘Black White and Blue’, and while she seemed genuinely content to be back on stage, her quips extended to her looking for her phone and outlining the concept of an encore.
Some may find a greater appreciation for her new songs on record, but with time to be made up for, this was no more than an adequate return.
