Not content to be merely bringing some of the biggest names in contemporary music to our shores, Mr Matthew Crawley has outdone himself once again, this time in bringing the nigh unheard-of Genevieve Castrée, aka WOELV, to our shores.
A crowd of roughly 30 took up their seats in Happy and witnessed a magical set from the French Canadian singer/songwriter. She played barefoot and alone, building songs live out of guitar and vocal loops, constructing hauntingly exquisite pieces. prompting members of the audience to burst out with comments of ’she’s so CUTE!’ between songs (you know who you are). But, as Woelv herself pointed out, her Quebec accent and french lyrics belied (for we English speakers, at least) the morose nature of her work. Lyrical content ranged from horse deaths to the blood on Condoleeza Rice’s hands post-Katrina. And whilst there were tracks which did not seem at all like they could purport such dark messages, there was no denying that in the hushed urgency of the vocal loops in her last track, or the violent way she cut short her high notes, Woelv was clearly communicating songs of dark, concentrated intensity.
It was not a long set, but it didn’t need to be. When she stated simply after her last song ‘Ok, I think I am finished now’, the audience responded with the same warmth she had shown the crowd during her set. It was a weird juxtaposition: a seemingly timid, hugely cute french-speaking Canadian working through a set of such haunting tracks. But it worked. I’ve been secretly hoping that the meagre turnout means she can’t actually afford to go home now, because to be honest, I think I’m in love. Would trade again.
James Beavis
