Rachel Sermanni - St John's on Bethnal Green 10.10.2019
In spite of the atmospheric tumult that accompanies the onset of autumn (by which I mean it’s wet and a bit nippy) the RGM team are out to catch the London leg of Rachel Sermanni’s tour in support of So It Turns, her thoroughly excellent third LP. It’s our first ever visit to the crumbling grandeur of St John’s Church in Bethnal Green, one of a growing number of sacred places doubling up as music venues. For those among us that already consider gig-going a semi-religious act it’s the perfect partnership and the instant reverence that buildings like this bestow on visitors does plenty to civilise a crowd. To be fair, the fifteen foot statue of Jesus hanging behind the altar helps, too.
The evening is hosted by Sam Lee’s Nest Collective, who specialise in bringing folk events to unusual spaces, and the audience - comprising peaceniks, silvertops and hipsters - reflects the Collective’s broad reach. Tonight’s support comes from Bethany Roberts about whom we can tell you very little, other than her inclusion on the bill was apparently only agreed a day or two before when she bumped into Sam Lee at the capital’s Extinction Rebellion protests. We note flashes of Suzanne Vega in the spikiness of her banjo picking and an ethereal moodiness to her vocal which is very apt for the venue. Special mention must also go to her onstage partner Rowan Elliott whose deft viola adds a haunting melancholy throughout, weaving in and out of the vocal melodies.
With sightlines proving problematic we elect to abandon our pew and stand at the back for Rachel Sermanni as she takes the stage (by which I mean the floor) alongside double bassist James Banner and pianist Declan Forde, with whom she recorded the album. For several of the songs, not one but four backing vocalists heighten the intensity of the songwriter’s already arresting delivery. These four are known collectively as Archie, a female vocal quartet in their own right, formed by members of the London Contemporary Voices. Also joining her for the tour is the songwriter’s toddler Rosa who, we are told, is responsible for gifting Sermanni the nasty sore throat she is currently nursing.
Rachel Sermanni by Ollie Denton.
‘Namesake’ and ‘Put Me In The River’ set the scene and the extra gravel in Sermanni’s lower register is noticeable but doesn’t irk. There is much between-song throat clearing but if the singer is struggling she doesn’t let it show; the performances are every bit as beguiling and intimate as they are on record. The next morning we discover that she’s forced to cancel the following two dates of the tour to allow for recovery, which makes us feel simultaneously grateful and guilty that we were the ones who wrung her dry.
The jaunty swing of ‘If I’ is delivered with a giddy Eddi Readerish abandon before Rachel switches from guitar to mandolin for the more sinister ‘What Can I Do’, which calls for both Forde and Banner to contribute some in-flight percussion. The jazz-flecked musicianship does plenty to impress and in the spaces between, Sermanni charms the audience with her easy patter. There is talk of how the need for coffee reduces the capacity for mindfulness; the fist-hand revelation that Semisonic wrote songs for babies by stealth; warnings about performance-enhancing pharmaceuticals and a continuing debate about whether Rachel should or shouldn’t have become a nun (it transpires she may have been overthinking the mediation).
Other highlights of the show include the playful ‘Tiger’, with its cacophonous finale; a song written for Sermanni’s own baby and the doleful ‘Wish I Showed My Love’. However, the evening really peaks with the cockle-warming closer ‘Lay My Heart’, a song that encourages the embracement of the here and now, during which we are invited to contribute our own voices. It makes for a spiritual moment - in a spiritual place. And on a cold, damp night in a cavernous and dim church I don’t think any member of the congregation can imagine being anywhere more cosy and warm than in the company of Rachel Sermanni and her quite special songs.
Review by Rich Barnard
Photography by Ollie Denton.
The unpredictable UK weather has taken a turn for the better, and it’s positively steamy in the Green Note basement. For those yet to sample the charms of this most intimate of venues, imagine your living room with a bar at one end, but probably smaller. A sold-out venue makes for a cosy experience, so we grab a beer and a spot by the bar in preparation for this evening's entertainment brought to us by Brian and the good folks at Dimple Discs.