HMV’s Next Big Thing

Reviewed by Katie Stanton

Red Kite is the resurrected outlet for former Cooper Temper Clause guitarist, Daniel Fisher. Their sound is the sort of classic rock to soundtrack long walks along the beach and pensive moments looking out at the ocean. Tonight, there are five people onstage , including a female bassist (Laura Hegarty) who spends the majority of the set looking sultry and/or bored. When lead singer Fisher allows, Laura steps up and contributes some refreshingly sweet vocals, but those moments are too far and few between. Fisher’s experience in CTC shows he knows how to write a good song, with subtle pop infusions and emotive riffs. However, it is Hegarty’s vocals that really make the stand-out tracks and the band need to expand on that.

Young, attractive, intelligent and now a bona fida “Next Big Thing” you could say that things are looking pretty good for Kyla La Grange in 2012. She’s certainly getting her fair share of media attention and there’s a definite sense of excitement to the atmosphere in the upstairs of the Garage. There’s been no shortage of female acts with strong voices mining the treasures of the past 40 years for inspiration and La Grange seems to have found her niche with a slightly countrified-goth-rock sound, earning her comparisons with Florence and Bat for Lashes for her effort.
Coming on stage, face adorned with glitter and looking slight and younger than her 24 years, she launches into early single Been Better with her band. Throughout the set she makes full use of the backing, building the sound or her rock ballads to accompany her vivid, story-telling lyrics. Been Better sets the tone, with its loud-soft-loud dynamic working the crowd. As the surging riff resides and the gentle strum of the verse kicks in, you can’t help but think that her voice has a Dolly Parton-esque quality to it, which is not to say a bad thing – OK she may be from Watford – but she seems genuine and sincere enough with her sound to carry it off…we’re not talking Joss Stone here.  Courage has a choral quality, building into a triumph of a chorus, only slightly let down by the clunky lyrics (“hole in your sole” anyone?). Vampire Smile is a lilting, mid-tempo strum that mellows the pace, before Lambs, a stomping, sing-a-long-for-the-future of a track, builds and grows into a monster that certainly entertains the Florence and the Machine comparisons. Overcoming a broken guitar and some possible nerves, like one of her songs, La Grange certainly grows into the set. She uses her guitar free moments to move around the stage and with one arched-back rock pose, she almost causes the ‘intense’ looking guys at the front drop their perma-recording cameras. Almost. There’s no place for Walk Through Walls, slightly surprisingly, and she finishes the set with ballad ‘Catalyst’ which is a gentle end to the evening.
By no means the finished article and probably in need of a couple more quality numbers to fully captivate, Kyla La Grange is a definite talent that has a unique enough sound to set her apart from the growing list of female singer-songwriters. It’s not hard to imagine that a large proportion of the room were solely here to see her tonight, to settle their own hype-induced curiosity, and it’s probably safe to say that they were not left disappointed.

The music world is a fickle one. We want everyone to experience the life changing effects of our favourite new tune, but equally keep it firmly under wraps, for fear that wide spread exposure will damage both our credibility and the fragile magic of the music. Popularity and integrity, cash and cool, forte and fortune are uneasy bed fellows when it comes to reputable music. So the news that HMV are buying main stakes in a number of music venues around the UK leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Hammersmith Apollo becomes the HMV Apollo. No longer the definitive The Forum, the Kentish Town venue will be the HMV Forum.
But what’s in a name? I doubt people will start inviting their friends down the HMV for a night out. Habits die hard; heck, I still call Starburst Opal Fruits. This new era in the venues’ history is not about labels. In a time when ends of an era are falling like dominos, perhaps this support and cash injection by HMV is what is needed. At least it’s only a change in owner, rather than a sad demise. Hundreds of fans are mourning the close of legendary venues such as London Astoria and The End.
Never one to miss out on a trend, the music scene is also suffering from the credit crunch, the cost of both playing and promoting, as well as attending gigs becoming more expensive. Whilst there will always be organic scenes sprouting new talent, let’s be honest, the music world isn’t built upon word of mouth, and neither will it ever be.
Of course HMV aren’t doing this out of the goodness of their heart. The live music business is estimated to be worth £1 billion a year. Getting a slice of this, and increasing the audience for their albums and merchandising equals big bucks for the music company.
Problems could arise if HMV insist on a whole 360 degrees way of promoting a band – being tied into contracts that allow sales only in HMV stores, gigs in HMV venues and merchandising restrictions will not help struggling upcoming bands, and will deter those who have belief in their music.
But this is not inevitable. Branded venues are nothing new. Carling have done a phenomenal job in promoting music, and whilst there are cries of Reading and Leeds having sold its soul, there are numerous examples of young people who would not have fallen in love with music in the same way if Carling venues and promotions had not offered this accessibility.
So if HMV’s role keeps venues open and live music in the public domain, it can only be a good thing. What is often a rickety area will become more sustainable with such a formidable financial backer. Why keep something out of the way of the vast majority of people. More gigs will be booked, and more risks taken on smaller bands. As long as the feet of fans continue to tap to the tunes, and are not dictated by his master’s voice, the move is welcome.