AUDIOBOOKS + ONEDA – KOMEDIA STUDIO BAR, BRIGHTON 24.2.22
audiobooks (note the spelling without the capital ‘A’) is a hard to Google duo comprised of art student Evangeline Ling on vocals with producer David Wrench behind a bank of synths, the latter a dead ringer for Draco Malfoy’s dad in Harry Potter.
Formed in 2018 after a mutual friend introduced them at a party saying “You’re a weirdo. He’s a weirdo. You’re going to get on great,” their brand of wonky electro is made to stand out by lyrics which tell bizarre tales of things as far apart as little girls wandering the streets in search of lost dolls to toxic masculinity and its effects.
Three years and two albums in and they have honed their live show into something strange but mesmerising with only the Faerie Queen like figure of Ling to draw attention away from the glacial Wrench and his bank of keyboards and electronics.
Tonight’s set at the Komedia Studio Bar was mainly drawn from the second album ‘Astro Tough’, (on Heavenly Recordings) with the thundering beats and twisting electronics of standout track ‘The Doll’ opening the proceedings, much to the delight of an audience hyped up and ready to go – quite the most enthusiastic Brighton crowd that I have seen in a while!
Fortunately, the sound quality was good and every word of Ling’s super cool and detached lyrics could be heard as she intoned stories of modern life seen through a prism of awkward bemusement. The duo seemed genuinely pleased by the rapturous reception each song received with Ling breaking out from her aloof air into a broad smile.
Find out more about audiobooks: www.audiobookshq.co.uk
Support came from OneDa (pronounced Wanda) a Mancunian female rapper whose drum ‘n bass infused set got the crowd nicely warmed up for the headliners.
Find out more about OneDa by visiting the relevant ‘linktree’ HERE.
