Stornoway

They don't seem to be the first, and won't be the last, offspring of that improbable yet pleasant British-style folk, this mismatched band of English lads. The Steadman brothers, who handle the rhythm section, look like rustic-chic models from some spring collection, while frontman Brian Briggs and multi-instrumentalist Jon Ouin come across as ordinary, vaguely dishevelled small-town guys. Not much is asked of this low-key evening at the Circolo Magnolia, which draws only a handful of fearless after-work regulars to one of the nature reserves of Milan's independent music scene.

Yet Briggs, partly for "ideological" reasons tied to the genre he belongs to (just joking), makes the best of it (better few but good, right?), entertaining the sparse audience with tales of the soundcheck picking up frequencies from Linate airport's control tower, just a few hundred metres away as the crow flies, and of his wanderings in search of the world's strangest museums – from the pasta museum in Rome to the dormouse museum in a remote Slovenian castle, sadly found permanently closed.

Of the new English acoustic movement, which already shows signs of fraying, probably only the bands that see it as their natural means of expression, rather than a passing infatuation, will survive. Stornoway, we sincerely hope, are one of these, given how well they've made the genre their own, without caricature-like poses or prepackaged solutions.

"Seen" live, Briggs's songs reveal songwriting that's never banal, yet never falls into the opposite trap either, delivering a final product that is (most of the time) perfectly accessible and fresh ("I Saw You Blink" and "Zorbing" naturally standing out above the rest). Briggs performs well, with his usual dazed charm and requisite understatement, but that doesn't stop him from indulging his personality by improvising a few unplugged tracks (the cover "November Song", "We Are The Battery Human", "The End Of The Movie", the latter two with the full band).

He's backed, without any flashy moments but without a single slip, by both the Steadmans and Ouin, along with guest appearances from violinist Rahul Satja and Briggs' brother Adam on trumpet. A fine evening for a band well worth encouraging.

Photo contributions by Francesca Baiocchi

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google