Opening up tonight’s show, Albert Gold, as Anna B Savage herself will admit later on, is one hell of an act to follow.  Smooth, and in fine voice, Gold’s blend of rn’b, soul and electro sounds particularly impressive in the setting of the Cluny’s acoustics.  Standing out with the forthcoming single ‘What is love’, as well as on recent release ‘Want me’, Gold’s ability to perform vocal gymnastics over electronic minimalism is spell-bounding and makes him certainly one to catch when he’s back in the region. 

Picking up on the ‘talented vocalist’ moniker left by Gold, Anna B Savage is up next, doing a particularly good job of replicating her recordings in the live setting.  Somehow managing to maintain her unique falsetto vocals across the duration of her set (lord only knows how strong her vocal muscles must be), Savage blends the emotional piercing of Jeff Buckley with the jazz textures of Polly Harvey.  Standing out in moments of gentler instrumentation (I can hear the birds now, A common tern), Savage’s strength proves to not ‘just’ be her vocals but also her deliberate guitar arpeggios and complex musicality.  Admitting to almost being in tears at various points of the show, Savage puts on a master show of finding the emotional core of her songs and forcing that emotion onto the stage through her voice and playing.    Excellent.