(Review by Pip Rainbird)
CASSYETTE – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 24.8.24
Last Saturday eve (24/08 to be exact), in a boiling hot little record shop bursting with fans, Cassyette celebrated the release of her highly anticipated debut album ‘This World F*cking Sucks.’
Resident Music in North Laine provided the venue for the evening’s performance: an acoustic set interspersed with a Q&A, followed by an in-store album signing. I cannot emphasise enough how packed Resident was for this; Cassyette herself seemed pleasantly surprised by how many people were present, as she took to the tiny stage alongside her two guitarists. The setting was intimate, the vibes were immaculate, and everyone’s anticipation was rich.
When I think of Cassyette as an artist, I think of spectacle. I think of aesthetic. I think of heavy electronic pop, meets alternative rock, meets emo. In her debut album, which she herself describes as “full of heart”, she tackles such themes as grief, substance abuse, nihilism, and more. She’s previously described her influences as including such artists as Evanescence, Slipknot, and Bring Me the Horizon – and tonight she added Sleep Token, Paramore, as well as slightly rogue choice Dolly Parton to the roster.
But did her music work acoustically?
Yeah, it totally did!
Cassyette began the show by stating that she “couldn’t believe” how many people were there. She then chatted back and forth with a heckler, before reassuring everyone that she’s “an over-sharer” and wouldn’t struggle with the Q&A portion of the performance.
The first song of the set was ‘Four Leaf Clover’. The track, featuring on her newly released album, is grungy electro-pop, dealing with themes of loss and heart-break. It contains clever lyricisms, a hook that’ll get stuck in your head forever, and some really memorable eerie choral sampling in the background. While I missed all of the electronic elements tonight, ‘Four Leaf Clover’ worked great acoustically and was definitely my favourite of the set. Cassy’s voice shone, with a real Brody Dalle-esque rasp that added so much.
After the first track, Cassy stopped to take questions from some very dedicated fans. It’s clear she has a real connection with her fanbase, as she spoke so earnestly and honestly: from joking about her “new meds” causing emotional instability; to comparing the gig to an “AA Meeting”; to fans sharing anecdotes about meeting significant others at Cassyette shows. This then spiralled into someone asking Cassyette to play at their wedding, and finally Cassy suggesting that we start a pit (you know Resident’s staff were holding their breath at that one.)
We then went into the next track of the eve: ‘Dear Sister’. This tune ramped up the emotion even further, with Cassy noting that she often cried while playing it, becoming audibly choked up as she did. She described the track as “uplifting”, which I totally agree with. It was a very sweet and emotional delivery, and I think everyone in the room really felt it too.
Next up was pop rock banger ‘Over It’, which had half of the crowd providing backing vocals unprompted, to Cassyette’s delight. It was so fun to watch the call and response here, with fans deadpanning, “I wish I could,” after lines such as, “Some things I can’t undo,” and “Sugarcoat my wounds in salt.”
This was followed by another Q&A section. At one point a fan asked Cassyette how she “made her voice so good”. While Cassy attempted to give a PC answer to that one, the goth with cool earrings stood next to me shouted out, “Cigarettes!” in response. Said goth turned out to be Bambie Thug of Eurovision 2024 fame, which was a fun surprise; although maybe one that could’ve been anticipated given that Cassyette co-wrote one of Bambie’s most well-known tracks, infamous banger ‘Doomsday Blue.’
The next song of the set was ‘Porcelain’, a moody, emo-influenced tune that went down great with fans and allowed Cassyette to really show off her voice. In contrast to the seriousness of the song, the mood in the room was pretty jubilant by this point.
Then, far too soon, we were at the end of the show. Cassyette smartly chose to finish with anthemic ‘Friends In Low Places’, which had the whole Resident singing along and most everyone’s hands in the air. Once the song was done, it was announced that the signing would soon begin: and fans began scrambling to line up to get their albums signed. At this point the heat grew too much and I ducked out, but I can only imagine the positive vibes continued on for a long time after I left the building.
So….in conclusion….
