Billy Nomates

Tor Maries is an artist who loves taking risks. She proved it with her recent sophomore effort “CACTI”, a gamble that pushes her sound toward alt-pop, and she shows it every time she plays live. To present her repertoire under the moniker of Billy Nomates for the very first time in Italy, the Bristol-based singer chose the lucky launching pad of the Covo Club in Bologna.

Opening the night are Hate Moss, an Italian-Brazilian duo blending the voices of Maria Cristina Galassi aka Tina, in charge of electronics, and drummer Ian Carvalho. Their musical formula rests on a noisy matrix somewhere between electroclash and trip-hop, backed by a gritty, exquisitely punk streak courtesy of Ian's (excellent) tight-knit rhythms. Their set opens on the reflective groundwork of “Eremita” and gradually builds, moving through the whirlwinds of “Honey” and “Londres” and the tribal pulses of “Birdaha”, culminating in the hypnotic “Pensar”.

After the stage changeover, what's left is an acoustic guitar, used only at the start by Tor for a goosebump-inducing “Fawner”, and a crash cymbal on the opposite side, reserved for the subtle, beguiling “Roundabout Sadness”, the turning point at the midpoint of the performance. For the rest of the set, the artist instead sings and dances solely over her own backing tracks. This kind of performance choice isn't for everyone from an artistic standpoint, and not everyone might appreciate it in the same way — or it might at least raise some initial doubts, later dispelled by Maries's talent. To quote a witty remark tossed off by a friend (no offense intended for the “authorial theft”): “At times it reminds me a lot of Jane Fonda-style spinning.” This is certainly one of the drawbacks that dancing on a bare stage can bring, but it can't be said that it isn't a bold choice. It's worth remembering that the backing tracks, in full DIY spirit, are entirely played and arranged by her, and the lyrics all written by her own hand.

In the steady succession of tracks played one after another, the artist sings almost all of “CACTI” live, a good chunk of the EP “Emergency Telephone”, and only two tracks from the debut. The many Eighties and, above all, Nineties icons who shaped Maries's vocal style are immediately recognizable, ranging from Sheryl Crow, Anouk and Joan Osborne to Chrissie Hynde, frontwoman of the Pretenders, not to mention the sultry Beth Gibbons of Portishead.

Standing out most in the set are the rhythms of “Blue Bones (Deathwish)”, the resolve of tracks like “No”, “Heels”, “Hippy Elite”, the catchy, effective “Balance Is Gone”, the vocal range on display in “Saboteur Forcefield” and “Right Behind You”, right up to the closer entrusted to the dynamic “Spite”.

On stage, Tor presents herself mainly as a performer, and this aspect proves especially interesting: filling and animating an empty stage, whether small or large, with nothing but her voice (not missing a single note, despite the breathlessness that comes from frenzied dancing) and sheer expressiveness, takes twice the effort. The artist held nothing back in this regard, astonishing everyone with her energy and winning over the crowd, with no need for a backing band to fill the space around her. Would it have been nice to see her at the instruments more often? Perhaps, but with hindsight, the result would likely have come across as far too static.

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