LIVE: LITTLE SCREAM – 01/07/2016

Little Scream

– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER –

It’s quiet tonight. There’s a slight lull. Whether Wales Euro 2016 related (they won). Pay day week related (another four more weeks to go). Weather related (typically British). Or Friday night ‘I’m in the mood to party’ related. Who knows. I know for sure people are missing out. Little Scream really should be a big scream around here.

Beginning late, support arrives in the form of Sally Mason from Taylor & the Mason, who is joined on stage by an accompanying drummer and violinist, whose names I regrettably forget, but minus her counterpart Becky Taylor, explained as being due to the last minute request to perform tonight. They provide a short but punchy set, and considering the unusual set-up, missing half the duo, and quite possibly not playing with the band tonight on a regular basis, Sally Mason sounds prepared and effortless in her delivery. Though her audience this evening is small, she’s easy-going and charming, and manages to make the small number of us chuckle good-naturedly. You’d never have known she was missing her Taylor & the Mason accomplice, delightful and humorous as she’s been.

Suitably prepped. There is now an expectancy for Little Scream’s Laurel Sprengelmeyer. An expectancy to perform future dance floor hits, that her new record, Cult Following is full of, such as favourite ‘Love As A Weapon’ which screams, ‘It’s Friday night, I’m in the mood to party’. We need this. It’s late. It’s stop-start raining. And as aforementioned, unusually quiet. Not to disappoint in any way, Little Scream provides a roaring set that delivers, and makes you want to party on in to the night. A mix of  folk, pop, and electro, Sprengelmeyer’s vocals are enthralling; there can be so much going on but she captivates and compels you to listen more. Move more. Expect more.

As an album, Little Scream’s Cult Following, is full of sonic beats and lush vocals. With many stars including Sharon Van Etten, Sufjan Stevens, and Aaron and Bryce Dessner from The National, providing a helping hand to a record that has quality stamped all over it. It’s an album that feels very much like, a tripped up progression from first album, Golden Record. I like them both, they show the versatility of an artist who is continuously growing. Her first album feels almost religious in its build up of dark atmospheric devotion, where her second album is sharp, electro-retro and sometimes dream-like. It’s an album that though intentionally recorded to play all at once, still sounds impressive performed live.

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