Did you catch the mesmerising Blackheart Orchestra in Newbury?

Blackheart Orchestra with support Foxpalmer
at Arlington Arts
on Sunday, September 17
Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON

Foxpalmer (aka Fern McNulty) opened with a very short set of five songs. Appearing tonight as a duo, rather than as a four-piece, a fact that, I believe, impacted on musical arrangements, Fern, on vocals and acoustic guitar and Abdi Behravanfar on electric and slide guitar, failed to engage with the audience. I don't think Abdi looked up at all and lyrics were impossible to decipher, a pity as checking videos of the band on the net this is by no means the norm for them.

Blackheart Orchestra are multi-instrumentalists Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington and they immediately captivated the (unfortunately) small audience with their highly individual blend of excellent harmonies, synths and guitars. Comparisons with Kate Bush and Pink Floyd are hard to avoid and it is possibly noteworthy that they have supported Hawkwind in the past.

The current tour draws heavily on their latest album Hotel Utopia which was released just under a year ago. Their hypnotic rhythms and ethereal vocal soundscapes were wonderful and I particularly enjoyed Under The Headlight, In Another Life and Astronaut.

They included an excellent new, and as yet, unreleased track Better Than Me which was truly mesmerizing, as was Dust. They closed with the epic The Flood, a nine-minute song which often attracts the 'prog rock' label but which comprehensively proved they can rock-out with the best when the choose.

For the encore they dug back in to their back catalogue for Hey Pluto from their 2013 album Songs From A Satellite.

Blackheart Orchestra create complex layers of sound to fascinate, intrigue and draw their audiences in to their own unique soundscape. It was such a shame that there wasn't a larger audience.

At least those who did turn-out on a Sunday enjoyed a wonderful show.