Reviews: Little Simz leads the pack on day one Other Voices

Little Simz
*****

This 21-year-old rapper arrives from the UK on the back of increasingly glowing plaudits. Little Simz lashes into her set in the Church with stunning prowess matched only by her magnetic vulnerability. Breaking down in tears during one tune, this set feels like something of a step up for a young woman whose songs document her creative drive and aspirations.

Gratitude and self-belief are two poles of Little Simz, the former being a song title. Her flow and openness evoke Angel Haze, a sentiment of honesty at the core of everything. Dead Body, probably her most advanced track in terms of production and narrative, shrouds the Church in darkness, but it’s the duality of Little Simz, who is never too far from the light as well as more morbid topics that really captivates.

Like many at Other Voices, she arrives on stage unknown to many audience members, who quickly recognise a true artist when they see one. Stunning stuff.

- Una Mullally

Jack Garratt
*****

Jack Garratt is on nearly every critic’s list as one to watch ahead of his debut album, due here in February. His layered, intricate electronica skips fleetfootedly between genres and styles, pushing and pulling his falsetto into extraordinary, tricksy corners.

Live, though, he’s a much more muscular animal, a one-man band tearing furiously and adroitly from piano to synth, laying down syncopated beats, pulling up tracks for a heartbeat before letting them off the leash again, and ripping out the choruses as if it’s the first time he’s sung these songs.

As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he straps on a guitar and adds slick wrangling guitar riffs with Eddie Van Halen-like flourishes over the expertly-built tracks.

An extended The Love You're Given is a total show stopper, but it's the chorus-heavy guitar fusillade of Worry that gives the church's foundations a decent rumble amid the Kerry storm outside. An outstanding set, and one for the Other Voices archives.

- Laurence Mackin

Lapsley
*****

Music isn’t short of female pop stars with excellent voices, but there’s definitely room for Lapsley. Her piano-led ballads manage to sound grand while maintaining an understated vibe. But that low-key energy will dissipate as increasingly large songs emerge.

In the Church, Lapsley barely needed to move to make her presence felt, because her voice does all the work. Resting somewhere between Adele and Jessie Ware, her demeanour demands attention, the slightest vocal flutters appear so purposeful and skilled.

It's kind of what Lapsley doesn't do that works: she doesn't over-egg the pudding. The tunes and their space piano and beat-led accompaniment are sturdy though stripped back. With Hurt Me she has a grower of a hit on her hands. A singer of real composure.

- UM

Shakey Graves
****

Shakey Graves is a rock-and-roll man with the blues at his heart, and pedals at his feet. Picking, strumming and singing his way slickly through a fine tour of Americana, the songs are lent direction and punch by a bass drum/snare contraption that Graves powers with flicks from his heels.

Dry and accomplished, the Texan has plenty of heart and warmth in the kind of set that many people make the trip to Dingle in anticipation of. This is his second set of the day after a performance at the Creative Minds conference and no sooner is Graves finished here than he’s on the bus and headed for a blustery Shannon airport.

If there’s a criticism, he maybe plays a little inside his skin, delivering a performance of professionalism that never quite sets fire to the place in the manner of Little Simz and Jack Garratt.

But this is still a quality hand of roots and rock from a man who knows how to work a tune and a room.

- LM

The Academic
***

The final set of the day in St James’s Church goes to Mullingar outfit The Academic, currently approaching ubiquity on Irish radio thanks to their standout hit Different.

The rock and pop outfit are young and slick, with playing that’s on point with not a riff or beat out of place. It’s little wonder many have predicted them to follow the likes of Two Door Cinema Club and go on to bigger and better things. On this evidence, they’ve got the chops to play much bigger stages than this and they treat the Other Voices venue with the respect it deserves by pummeling their way through a set with energy and poise.

It's a tall order to follow an evening of performances of this calibre, and their material is certainly more mainstream than what's gone before, but when it comes to performance, The Academic are never in danger of being taken to school.

- LM