Friday 9 September 2022, 8pm
Mess Esque is the musical vision of Dirty Three guitarist Mick Turner & Mckisko composer Helen Franzmann. Since forming via a lockdown-confined correspondence in 2020, they have recorded & released two records: Dream #12 (Bedroom Suck) & Mess Esque (Drag City/ Milk!).
Together they create a curious synthesis of dream pop, psych soul & ethereal indie rock. Effortlessly balancing bold emotional immediacy with a quietly assured sense of composure, Mess Esque draw the listener into their compelling world of sideways shadows & nocturnal projections. Franzmann’s dream diary reflections & cyclical refrains echo Turner’s tapestry of guitar loops, organs, flutes & scattered percussion. Melodies arch upwards dramatically before dissolving into diaphanous substratums of whispers & sighs. Songs unfold in their own time, drifting outwards before circling back to find themselves where they left off, each time the same but somehow different.
While ongoing restrictions hindered and postponed live performances, 2022 sees Mess Esque finally able to recreate these special songs in the concert setting with a full band. The results will no doubt be as captivating & mesmeric as they appear on record.
Following prized releases on labels such as Northern Spy, Scissor Tail and Bathetic, plus gigs with Charalambides, Ashley Paul, Alex Ward and C Joynes, London’s Padang Food Tigers continue to direct their instrumental focus on the subtle chicaneries of homestead and blood tie, glimpsed through a palimpsest reverie of guitar, dobro, field recordings and banjo, recollecting moods redolent of Virginia Astley, Scott Tuma and, most certainly, Bruce Langhorne’s The Hired Hand soundtrack.
Last year saw the duo of Stephen Lewis and Spencer Grady release their fifth long-player, God’s Plenty, on Portugal’s Shhpuma label as well as a collaborative album, A Cassowary Apart, with Australian ambient artist Andrew Tuttle via Bedroom Suck Records.
