CORDELIA GARTSIDE + SLAG + ISM – THE ROSSI BAR, BRIGHTON 17.12.24
Earlier this summer Ari Pascual decided to breathe new life into the already multi-coloured and ambidextrous music scene in Brighton by forming a live music promotion company, known as SideQuest Records. Since September, they have played host to some of Brighton’s up and coming artists such as avant-rock sludgists Ragdoll, party-holic beauty queens Cowz, indie rock superstars Arcadia Residential, as well as even organising a headline show for myself last month.
Approaching Christmas with speed, December 17th rolled around and SideQuest found themselves at The Rossi Bar for their fifth show, hosting the beloved Cordelia Gartside, with support from SLAG and ism.
A self-described creep rock artist, Cordelia Gartside has been shaping a musical territory of her own for the best part of a decade, blossoming from the indie folk and baroque leanings of her 2013 ‘Setting North’ and 2017 ‘Medea’ EPs, before powering in with a slew of singles across last year and this year such as ‘27’, ‘precious’, and ‘hospital corners’ which have come to define her sound. I first caught interest in Cordelia through a recent interview she did with Duskhouse vocalist Lily Balmer for the Sussex-based magazine Hildegard; their conversations about the power of female singer-songwriters, the development of her work after a substantial break from the industry, as well as her passion for Big Thief singer Adrianne Lenker painted vivid pictures for me, even before I began listening to her work.
Kicking off the trifecta of live acts at The Rossi Bar was the Brighton-based ism, a quartet that comprises Norwegian lead vocalist Tyra Tvedte Kirstoffersen, guitarist Matt Jones, Sophie Evans on bass and Ben Mulberry on drums. Circulating for the best part of a year at this point, I’ve never had the privilege of catching these guys live before, however, I have previously caught, on numerous occasions, Matt Jones performing under the name Bedroomer with both Sophie and Ben as backing musicians. Known for their affiliations with other Brighton-based bands of the rock realm such as Rottweiler, Spill and Fire Escape despite not having any currently released material to their name, the instrumental trio of Jones, Evans and Mulberry paint walls of distorted chaos for Tyra to walk onstage to, or make that, swim onstage to (I don’t know either!). Right from the get-go on the opening track ‘Going Mad’, the theatricality of Tyra’s half-sung, half-shaken vocal collides with her cohorts engaging in Pavement-like soundplay, laden with glam rock tendencies. Possibly the most straightforward song of the set, ‘Anymore’ plays around with some slick descending guitar lines within a momentum that reminds me a lot of late 2000s indie.
The very progressive ‘My Life Left Me For Another Woman’ discusses the feeling of not being able to live up to the standards of being a woman in the music industry, atop melancholic soundscapes of Tyra’s compelling vocals and a dynamically flexible timbre that rises and falls with harmonies and cymbal flourishes. Entering the second half of the set, ‘Notorious Plants’ is, by far, the liveliest song of the set, with a punkier chord progression and a more nonchalant vocal delivery. Even on this track, you can still find some of the more progressive and explorative elements of ism’s music, with moments of silence still finding their way in-between sections, leaving the audience to hang on every word that comes out of Tyra’s mouth.
The song ‘Inevitable Ending’ is a much needed comedown, with a calm and patient, but gradual elevation in sound occurring throughout the track, which Tyra describes as an evocation of somebody that takes you out of a situation you don’t like and makes it nicer, comparing it to the warmth and nostalgia she receives from one particular gas station in her native town of Oslo. For me, the closing track, ‘Dam Gniog’, is the highlight of the set; not only does it create an incredible full circle (the title being ‘Going Mad’ in reverse), but the combination of the Mount Eerie-esque side snare and guitar work, and smart rhythmic interplay in 6/4 time work marvellously in creating a satisfying close to an incredible first leg of the evening.
ism:
Tyra Tvedte Kristoffersen – lead vocals
Matt Jones – guitar, backing vocals
Sophie Evans – bass
Ben Mulberry – drums
ism setlist:
‘Going Mad’
‘Anymore’
‘My Life Left Me For Another Woman’
‘Notorious Plants’
‘Inevitable Ending’
‘Dam Gniog’
Now, this next band is quite special; the five-piece SLAG have been shapeshifting a distinctive blend of indie rock and experimental shades of art rock and post-punk for just over a year at this point, with their only released single ‘Ripped’ proving their worth landing them a spot at the newly-prestigious ‘Homegrown Festival’ for April 2025 alongside other big Brighton names such as Congratulations, ARXX, Goodbye and ladylike among others.
In a now-packed Rossi Bar, I clamber up onto the seats allocated along the sides of the room to see SLAG in all their five-member glory of guitars, keys, bass and drums. On the opening cut ‘Heaven’, lead vocalist and guitarist Amelie Gibson hits us with a very sophisticated riff that is placed within a slightly odd time signature of 17/4, with occasional Geese vocal inflections. This song, like many others of SLAG’s, exercises various section changes that switch between art rock mania and emotional post-rock, which is also the case for the following ‘Private Gyno’, whose angular indie surf is both slick and bittersweet in its marriage of disjointed groove changes from drummer Luke Martin and warm piano chord progressions from Seb Cooper. Amelie introduces, in disbelief, a “GCSE music piece”, entitled ‘Still Here’, which features a great balance of dynamics between verses, under which sits a casual, yet passionate vocal delivery.
There’s a familiarity to SLAG’s music that still feels incredibly fresh, with the band’s remarkable musicianship pushing full force on a currently untitled song, that plays around with brief moments of quintuple meter and stupendously elaborate guitar lines (sorry, but how on earth is Amelie being able to play that and sing at the same time; it’s ridiculously fun!). Following a quick merch plug, SLAG reaches a song with the working title of ‘Legit Mayhem’, opening with guitarist Dan Phillips creating an introductory passage that reminds me of a cross between Mogwai’s ‘Helicon 1’ and alt-J’s ‘3WW’. This is possibly my favourite song of the set, with many impactful moments culminating in Seb’s high-end piano lines, anchored by Freya Eastcott’s smooth bass.
Of course, ‘Ripped’ receives the biggest crowd reactions of the set, thanks to its super smart arrangements and infectious chorus that still sticks in my head. Amelie’s vocal performances really mutate here with rising growls and manic deliveries reaching fever pitch towards the end of the track. The band end with the Unwound-meets-Jeff-Rosenstock track ‘Legs’, syncopated in rhythms and volcanic in scope, acting as a keystone for everything the band has triumphed with throughout their set. Ending in an eruption of noise and a high five between Seb and Dan, the crowd begin to dissipate for a drink and a smoke before we reach our headliner…!
SLAG:
Amelie Gibson – lead vocals, guitar
Dan Phillips – guitar
Freya Eastcott – bass
Seb Cooper – keys and backing vocals
Luke Martin – drums
SLAG setlist:
‘Heaven’
‘Private Gyno’
‘Still Here’
Untitled song
‘Legit Mayhem’
‘Ripped’
‘Legs’
Finally, the hero of the hour, brought to you by SideQuest, Cordelia Gartside opens her sermon to The Rossi Bar, backed by drummer Max Garner, bassist Tom Ironmonger and Willow Simpson (also of Rottweiler fame) on guitar. Opening with the patient and solemn ‘pay by the hour’, the slowcore-induced thematics, paired with a vocal that bares a striking resemblance to Black Country, New Road vocalist Tyler Hyde, captivates the audience within minutes. Already, Cordelia demonstrates a strong sense of dynamic push-and-pull with some incredible singing that stretches between vulnerable, fragile falsettos and screaming melodies that reverberate through the basement.
The enigmatic ‘december (heavy)’, which saw a BBC Live Lounge performance this year, left me transfixed by Cordelia’s eyes, which pulls the listeners in with attentive stares and a sense of dangerous wonder. ‘machine’ was, by far, the best song in the set in terms of atmosphere and space, being the most patient and stoical track performed by Cordelia and her angels. Max brings forward some light rhythms across the tom drums in 3/4, with Cordelia delivering a driving lyrical passage that rises in pitch and inflection towards the song’s final legs.
The first of a few new songs written as a band, ‘the rapture’ sees Cordelia and her band explore a distinctive Radiohead influence with its septuple meter rhythms, and ‘Weird Fishes’-esque oceanic guitar pattern, before ending on a stellar guitar solo from Willow. The menacing low end guitars of ‘stagger’ pull me in straight away, with the overall timbre to this song reminding me of a combination of Big Thief and Boygenius. The most ethereal track of the set so far, this song has a wonderfully bittersweet progression that compliments Cordelia’s haunting voice beautifully.
Then, we come to the true highlight of the night for me, ‘hospital corners’; the opening verse’s gently strummed guitar passages were beautiful enough, but then the middle passage where Cordelia spends most of her time standing among a silent crowd, repeating refrains of “I’ll be what you want me to be”, made for some truly mystifying moments that I’ll be remembering for a long time. Cordelia proceeds to bid us farewell on the closing track, ‘good’, which acts as a glimmer of hope in the deep emotional chasmic headspace of her music through grungy Dinosaur Jr. guitar tones and captivating falsetto vocals in the choruses. Following rapturous applause and cheer from the audience, I simply had to approach Cordelia post-haste and congratulate her on a wonderfully remarkable performance. Well, SideQuest no. 5 has proved to be yet another success for Ari and Mia; the amalgamation of the artful and progressive ism, the twists and turns of SLAG and the staggering beauty of Cordelia Gartside pooled themselves into a great final gig of the year for me, continuing to prove the viability and strength of grassroot music in Brighton.
Cordelia Gartside:
Cordelia Gartside – vocals, guitar
Willow Simpson – lead guitar
Tom Ironmonger – bass
Max Garner – drums
Cordelia Gartside setlist:
‘pay by the hour’
‘december (heavy)’
‘machine’
‘the rapture’
‘stagger’
‘hospital corners’
‘good’
