It’s always tempting to talk about Noah & the Whale’s musical trajectory alongside those of Mumford and Sons and Laura Marling. All part of the same scene, it was Charlie Fink’s Noah who first came to the public’s attention, releasing three singles on Young and Lost Club, and hitting the charts with “Five Years Time” – but it’s Mumford and Marling who have gone on to take up the serious musical column inches since. But arguably, it’s Noah & the Whale (who effectively kick started the whole indie-folk scene) who are the most progressive of the three acts. From the pop/folk crossover chart appeal of “Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down” to the Laura Marling-inspired beauty of the morosely gorgeous follow-up “The First Days of Spring”, there is a progressive desire for musical development in Fink that demands attention.
Recent album “Last Night on Earth” not only confirmed this expansive mindset, but also Fink’s hit songwriting abilities, via such radio friendly cuts as “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N” and “Waiting For My Chance to Come”. There’s definitely something indefatigable about Mr Fink that has you rooting for him through his travails, and the energetic, widescreen songwriting of “Last Night…” makes it a lovely counterpoint to the heart-on-sleeve despair of “…Spring”. The chance to see the band continue their musical journey at one of Brighton’s very best venues is certainly something of an autumnal pleasure ahead of their winter jaunt to the US.
Like Noah, support band Being There have released their debut single on the excellent Young and Lost Club, although musically the band have more in common with such recent shoegaze revivalists as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Warm and coy pop songs, variously awash with swirly synths and fuzzy guitars, the four-piece imbue their ’80s leanings with plenty of contemporary pzazz. Something to cheer the spirits as the nights draw in, without doubt.
