Cold Specks, Southbank Centre, London
- Written by Russell Warfield
It’s only a year since Al Spx released her startlingly well-formed and engrossing debut LP I Predict A Graceful Expulsion, but the young artist is already starting to show signs of restlessness about showcasing the old material. This generally manifests itself positively, especially through the promisingly enrapturing smattering of new material offered up tonight. 
Of course, there is undoubtedly something a little deflating about hearing her admit how sick she is of singing minor-detonation show stoppers like ‘Winter Solstice’. But the discomfort largely translates as a creative eagerness to move onto the next chapter of a career which has started on an arrestingly good first step. Certainly, tonight’s set sounds like the cream of a lesser artist’s whole discography, not a selection of songs from a debut along with a few new ones, too.
The older material has been honed to pin-point precision while still sounding as organic and lived-in as their studio-recorded counterparts. Spx’ opening gambit of an a capella ‘The Mark’ draws immediate contrast between her meek and unsure stage persona and her confidence as a musician and performer. Acting as a soaring showcase of ability without being anything near clinical, Spx’ grasp of old-style gospel and blues radiates through a spine-chilling performance in the space of a single bar, commanding the melody and emotion with a control that allows her to abandon the microphone entirely. Her voice is truly something else; boasting the character and hue of a far more mature artist, all the while married to the spirit of youth.
Tonight’s six piece band is similarly exquisite, breathing their own life into the material without ever distracting from the beauty of Spx’ voice and lyricism, nor the backbone of her measured guitar work. As on record, the fraught textural build of songs like ‘Steady’ is preserved perfectly, with horns and keys rising and falling around each other like aromas, rarely finding full definition or releasing on the tension created. That’s what Spx is there for - she’s the pay-off, the beating heart, the sense of release. The arrangements on the newer material sound to develop this technique even further, with the arrangements even more elusive and teasing, without ever being frustrating in their lack of resolution. The composition of the music is close to divine, and turns what would otherwise be affecting solo-acoustic songs into a truly rapturous experience, pointing the way towards a follow-up LP which has the potential to outperform her sensational debut.