Yews at Coach & Horses

As the Maltese Islands experience a refreshingly windy weekend, a large crowd is drawn to Coach & Horses. Almost two hours late, Yews takes to the stage at 10:55pm. Today she is performing with drummer Manuel Pulis, who has played with Brikkuni and local jazz bands. The music starts out very dreamy, soft chords emerge from her laptop and light beats drift from the drums. To this base, Yews adds vocals looped through her digital sampler and lyrics lightly shouted into the mic. Aside from some problems with the sound, it is a promising beginning beginning.

Her next song is 'In Time', a sweet child-like track accented by bold drumming and digital xylophone. Yews' style shows clear influence from Bjork and Grimes. Sound trouble persists as static bursts from the speakers intermittently.

Yasmin has been busy developing her sound in London. Her next track is lovely, very well structured with orchestral undertones from the laptop and focused drumming. Yasmin's vocals have also improved from the last time I saw her perform - at Sickfest last year. Gone are the wild animal screeches, replaced by soft tones voicing tender lyrics. Her sound has really developed and matured. Rather than being the focus of her music, she now uses her voice as a tool to bring together all the elements into one coherent piece. It is well put together and entertaining to listen to. The softness of Yasmin's tone is set off by the bold drumming, this is no lullaby.

Yews

Her technique in the use of the sampler had always shown promise, but this performance demonstrates a mature restraint. It hasn't yet reached the level of Owen Pallett (who we saw live here a few yeas ago), but Yews' style is somewhat different to his. She doesn't seem to find it hard to hold back, considering her previous loud hypnotic style. I think this might have something to do with studying sound art & design at the London University of Arts. It's such a shame that we have to export our talent to learn technique abroad.

Her music tends to be a bit repetitive, as atmospheric music does. Halfway through the gig, the tracks blend into each other. Later in the performance, the drumming is becoming overindulgent and overshadowing the music. The problem with the sound continues, and Yasmin has little conferences with the sound engineer between each track, ruining any continuity and needlessly lengthening the set.

Drummer Manuel Pulis

With only three songs to go, drummer Manuel Pulis grabs a microphone and apologises for the delays, blaming technical difficulties. He reminds the crowd that Yasmin traveled from London to perform for us and attempts to stir up encouragement.

Resident cat, Molly, trots up on stage. Yasmin offers her a microphone but (few people know this) Molly is actually deaf and therefore can't hold a tune. She is gently ushered off stage.

Yews ends the set on a new song, which features choral chanting as a background. It is a highlight track, reminiscent of John Murphy's work on the 28 Weeks Later soundtrack.  After negotiating with the audience, Yews agrees to play an encore and then ends at 11:50pm.

Yews on soundcloud 

Images: (1) Yews Facebook page, (2, 3) personal photos

When: 10th August 2013

Where: Coach & Horses, Msida

Who: Yews with Manuel Pulis

Price: 3e