On Friday 7th November ambient-folk artist Lucy Gooch performed at Exeter’s 12 bar, touring her debut album release Desert Window.
Those familiar with 12 bar’s live music nights will know the scene: a small cafe-turned-bar with some sitting and standing housing around 30. Friday’s gig felt just as intimate, the crowd dotted around tables and stools, swirling tumblers of wines and sifting through records between conversations. The feel of the place is more like a dinner party, candles flickering at every table, where in the middle of the ‘living room’ Lucy sets up her keyboard and mic.
Conversations simmer down and stools swivel round to face Lucy, who begins her set layering voices for her first song, ‘Rushing’. Snippets of her vocals, often short phrases and operatic ad libs, meld together and are deepened by keyboard synths. The result is a dreamy, mystical world reminiscent of Kate Bush or Cocteau Twins. Just when you’re in your feels, her sense of humour comes through — pressing buttons with her nose when she’s out of hands and singing ‘thank you’ in the same high-pitched note she ends the song on.
The result is a dreamy, mystical world reminiscent of Kate Bush or Cocteau Twins.
A quick interval sees Lucy talking about cold York where she came down from to play in Exeter. Chatter resumes, glasses top up and those a bit more peckish opt for sausage rolls from the counter. 12 Bar’s owner points to a row of Lucy’s records sitting on the wall-side rack — a series of EPs and her first album, Desert Window. The album art is black and white, a face painted in ink — an album cover Lucy comments that she is not so fond of anymore. Back to the second half.
By this point, you become familiar with her style — songs like hazy expanses cut through with trill vocals. Sometimes her lyrics shift from coherent words to sounds and vowels. The middle of songs feel experimental, with the melodies getting heavier and more intense towards the end. You can’t help but feel from the audience’s deep focus on Lucy that she’s achieved some creation of a strong feeling or memory that we can all resonate with. The round of applause at each song’s end feels like a reset pulling us out of it.
… she’s achieved some creation of a strong feeling or memory that we can all resonate with.
At the end of her set, Lucy especially thanks the people at 12 Bar for all their help and support. In response they seem grateful to be able to have her, creating a place, week upon week, that gathers people through music — whether it’s post-gig debriefs around the table or recommended records acting as conversation starters.
