Concert by Still House Plants and Jairus Sharif & Mustafa Rafiq

Description:

Since forming at the Glasgow School of Art in 2015, Still House Plants, the London-based trio of Jess Hickie-Kallenbach (vocals), Finlay Clark (guitar), and David Kennedy (drums) have developed one of the most idiosyncratic forms of art rock, capable of containing free improvisation and neo-soul. From a bare-bones set-up of vocals, guitar, and drums, they draw on sampling and slowcore to eschew conventional song structure.

For their concert at Western Front, Still House Plants performed songs from their album If I don’t make it, I love u (2024). Ebbing and surging with flickering rhythms and raw emotional candor, Hickie-Kallenbach’s guttural voice carved lucid melodies out of fragmented and looped phrases. As in their recordings, Still House Plants’ live performance cultivated a distinct interplay between irregular grooves and spontaneous artistry, finding intimacy in repetition and release.

The evening opened with a forty-minute set by Jairus Sharif & Mustafa Rafiq. Together, the improvising duo blended guitar, saxophone, and spoken word, using a range of effects pedals to create a soundscape that spanned drone, noise, and jazz.

Curated by Aki Onda.