LIVE REVIEW: JACK & DAISY EP LAUNCH WITH AMBER SAQLADI & DAISY PEACOCK - KARMA SANCTUM - SOHO

There's a certain charm about coming to the Karma Sanctum, the prompt early start, and therefore early finish, the comfy seating on sofa's for the early birds and the general relaxed air of a tiny venue in the heart of London. The only drawback is the white screen backing, this is after all the cinema room in a boutique hotel. however it does make getting a decent photograph difficult.

Tonight we are nominally gathered for the launch of Jack & Daisy's rather wonderful EP, however this is a bill rich in talent and there will be plenty in addition to enjoy.

Opening the evening, hailing from Sheffield, was Daisy Peacock. Pre show research had identified her as having a line in lyrically snappy pop songs. Playing tonight with just an acoustic guitar, she wisely eschewed the use of backing tracks and stripped the songs back, effectively to the moment they were created. Apart from the speed of her delivery, once reduced to this format, they sort of became Americana songs dealing with real life issues.

Her first song "Think Twice" introduced us to her dynamic delivery, as well as the fact, that with the flash of her eyes she had a number of expressions ready to illustrate any particular line that she was singing.

"You're so self assured, it's almost inspiring

I want to be the one to make you think twice"

Occasionally letting go of the neck of her guitar she was a compelling presence as you tried to catch each line as it flew past you.

"You Don't Want Me Enough" dealt with the realisation that some people are not for you. The chorus was sung ever more theatrically each time round. For such an upbeat sounding song, "Fling Forever" had some quite sad observations, too specific not to be real like

"I'm just a couple of month fling

Get close with your friends but

Your parents won't know me"

The chorus was sung with a nervous laugh so maybe things aren't all bad - the final line

"I don't want to be a fling forever"

If that was sad then "Valentines Day" about seeing the person you want to be with, with someone else, made things slightly more downbeat. The recorded version, is lush with piano and additional keyboards, this version had the final line of the chorus plaintively sung yet saw Daisy still able to generate that required degree of drama.

"I know you're in love - and it's not with me"

Another burst of honesty came with "While It Lasted", a fast, rocking tune with the maximum amount of words squeezed on to every line. A change of pace would come with "Blue Print", a more laid back tune, it dealt with Daisy working out how to break up with someone, and was filled with a number of pithy lines delivered ever more expressively as she runs through various variations

"Call you up, get a little drunk

deep breath in - spill my guts

Feels a little brutal"

Daisy's current single "Bare Minimum", about boys continually setting the expectation bar lower, came with some strident guitar playing

"I'm a bare minimum kind of girl

You really don't have to come close to the world

You'll impress me with whatever you have in store

I know my standards are on the floor but so are you"

We're not exactly Daisy's core audience but this solo version had much more life about it than the somewhat robotic backing of the released version. Time with Daisy would end on "Girl Best Friend", a song about the girl they told you not to worry about, where the warning signs are ringing like fire alarms!

"I'm not a psycho you got friends but

Friday was our night, till she invited you out

You know that I'm not lying when I say I didn't bat an eyelid

You slipped up when you just forgot to tell me

You two used to date!"

Full of suitably paranoid lyrics delivered in an ever more hysterical manner

"I'm not insecure unless i should be

I just gotta be sure that she's nothing more

Than your girl best friend"

Next up and performing the day after being involved in a car crash, was Amber Saqladi, who continues to bewitch and beguile us each time we meet. Her material are not just songs, they are a fusion of ideas and tunes matched to highly inventive lyrics -, the word song barely does them justice. Sat atop a stool with her guitar, dressed in white with her dark curls tumbling down - she would deliver the most dramatic of sets.

Opening with "Liquor" her current single, her introduction made as she strummed the opening chords. With a verse that finds room for the word incandescent, and a chorus that increases with intensity on each line - Amber can seemingly pour more emotion into one line than many acts can summon up in their entire set.

This was a chance to hear a lot of new material from Amber, starting with the love song "Broken Glass". to say there was a lot to take in would be an understatement, with a rich narrative opening with

"I've been playing sixteen since I was three

When I finally got there, and looked around

As sure as hell I didn't know what that means"

It was poetry, it was folky, it was dramatic, never more so then when Amber plaintively sang

"Can we dance through this world of broken glass?"

Varying between powerfully loud and barely a whisper with the words just about tumbling out this was extraordinary and totally absorbing.

With the next song trailed as coming from a dark place during her university days, the title "Landmines" was ominous and the opening lines

"There's a place I know - broken dark and cold

Haunted by violent ghosts"

Amber fills her songs with many images so there is an awful lot to absorb so much so that you just grab at phrases as they fly past you.

"Landmines in my mind"

Amber did reveal with a smile that she was in a much happier place now which was a blessing to hear.

Continuing the "creepy songs", "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" where that story is merged with the one of Little Red Riding Hood, was one that had wowed #TEAMw21 at Buckle & Boots earlier in the year. It was disturbing then and hearing the lyrics with new clarity only made it seem darker, though once again completely compelling.

"He robbed me off all of my purity"

This was cinematic in scale even in this stripped back format as the 2 stories collide

"Beware of the wolf as he hides in plain sight"

The song "An Ode To You" apparently created in a fevered state, was a slower, gentler, and had a dreamy atmospheric sound, yet still packed with much lyrical content to one day unpack. Ending with Amber shaking the neck of her guitar to extract every last second of sound, this seemed a loving declaration "I don't want you to go"

Amber's set would close with "No Apologies", a song that is breathtaking in its ambition, with an opening gambit of

"I once met a man, blinded with pleasantries

But he broke my soul and used the shards

As knives to make me bleed"

Moving from gypsy ballad mode, to passionate singer songwriter, this was a piece of social commentary, much needed in the modern world, and comes with a punchy chorus as well.

In thirty minutes, Amber Saqladi took us once more on a most enthralling journey quite unlike any other.

Having already witnessed two remarkable performances, the evening would close on a third with Jack & Daisy, residents in Spain, over for a short tour to publicise their new EP "Barcelona ( In The Rear View)". It was a first time catching them for #TEAMw21 and they thoroughly charmed throughout and it was nice to see an EP launch with an actual physical EP being launched.

With Daisy providing the upbeat rhythm guitar sound and Jack picking out his supporting guitar lines they made a great combination. It would be Daisy who would open the vocals on "Out Of The Blue". Coming together to harmonise on the vocals to make a sweet sound.

As Daisy would introduce "There's A Place" about their home in Spain, there was a genuine warmth about them that you could not help but take to. For this song it would be Jack who would play the introduction and open the singing with a subtle husky timbre. Daisy, as she would for some songs through the evening would just hold her guitar.

Daisy would then take over adding her own subtle vocal style. Individually both are talented singers yet with seemingly all duo's, it is when they join together that the real magic happens. Jack's guitar lines enhanced things to build the overall sound.

For the second time in a couple of weeks Dave Stewart makes an appearance on these pages, first for his part in My Girl The River's release and now for his work on Jack & Daisy's EP which he has produced along with co-writing a couple of songs. The first song from the EP aired "Life Go Easier On Me" saw the pair find a divine vocal line over some intricate guitar work. It had the feeling of a song that you felt you had known all your life, despite it being the first time we had heard it, so easy was it to like.

"I've said things I didn't mean

when I was only seventeen

I still had my pride

Now i think there's a part of me

That just doesn't want to leave

But I'm going near the time"

Whether inspired by the recent biopic or an incisive analysis of where the world is currently going, Jack & Daisy's next offering from their new EP was a cover of Bob Dylan's, "The Time's They Are A Changing". It had previously always seemed a song steeped in the time it was created, yet with Jack and Daisy trading verses it suddenly seemed incredibly prescient, and in subsequent days only more so.

Jack's softly delivered vocals and guitar would build the atmosphere for "Call It Home". As Daisy added even softer additional vocals, the sound at times was so magically gentle, you almost held your breath for fear of making too much noise.

Drifting back in time to their debut single "The Little Things" there was a simplicity and purity in their work that charmed, even more so when they occasionally exchanged glances and smiled at each other. A second cover of the evening would see a most impressive take on Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" which has deservedly garnered over 2.7 million views if it's anything like tonight's performance.

Beautifully slow and achingly brilliant, Jack would lead out the vocals, before joining with Daisy halfway through the opening verse. Bringing the background vocals of the originals chorus more to the fore, this was an inspired cover, with Jack's guitar embellishments taking it to another level.

Just before they would launch into "Bittersweet", Daisy happened to mention the stage creaking, which had been a quaint part of the evening, only qualifying at time just how delicate the web she and Jack were weaving. Once mentioned however the stage seemed to only then creak more often and louder. Daisy would lead out on guitar for this one, at times with an almost siren like voice that would have lured many a sailor on the rocks, so hypnotic was it.

The latest single and title track of the EP, "Barcleona ( In The Rearview), another song that instantly gets taken to your heart, with its melodies and guitar work. It is hard to recall a set of so much beauty and simplicity in recent times and "The Love I Know" saw Daisy produce a vocal so delicate and fragile it was a marvel to behold.

For a new song "Baker Street", Jack would add some extra echo on his guitar solo, on this song of Daisy's fathers time on the aforementioned street.

The final song from the EP, confirming it's status as a "Must Buy" was "Another Day", another contribution that could easily have come from a classic singer songwriter of days gone by, such was the vibe created. Instinctively right from beginning to finish with one room for one final dreamy guitar solo, it was a perfect way to close out an absolutely, perfect evening.