Lorna - (With the Amber Heard). Bodega, Nottingham, 17/7/2015

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 23 / 10 / 2015

intro

Dave Goodwin enjoys a superb night at the Bodega in `Nottingham with two local acts, Lorna and the Amber Herd

It was another warm night at The Bodega where there were a string of juicy bands on including two of Nottingham's up-and-coming most talented acts, Lorna and the Amber Herd. The Amber Herd, which consists of Neil John Beards, Paul Wentworth, Mark Lasbury, Ollie Powditch and Rob Fitzmaurice, are no strangers to Pennyblackmusic. Once again they delivered on stage with a professional performance that put the updated Bodega sound system through its paces. They scampered through a fine shorter set than usual due to the Bodega's curfew laws. Lead singer Beards looked as competent as usual, and was backed by Paul on guitar to his left and Rob on bass to his right who were both also as dextrous as the lead. Starting the set with two tracks ,'Leaving Home' and 'Red Gold', from last year's debut album 'Our Only Eden', they followed them up with a new track, 'Northern Sky'. The Record Store Day charity single 'Kite' was next, and they ended a loud and frantic set with 'In to Land', the closing song from 'Our Only Eden'. The headlining act Lorna are no strangers to Pennyblackmusic either. They are a six piece band who dish out over-sized portions of indie/dreampop, and consist of Sharon Cohen-Rolfe (vocals, keyboards, percussion), Matthew Harrison (flute, guitar, percussion), Mark Rolfe (vocals, clarinet, guitar, percussion), Andrew Bullock (vocals, guitar, banjo), Rein Ove Sikveland: (viola) and last but not least Madeline Leverton (violin). They formed in the late 1990s, releasing four previous full-length albums and several EPs and singles on the US-based label Words On Music, have also appeared on many compilations and have been compared to Teenage Fanclub, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo and the Velvet Underground. Their fourth album, Heart of Wire’, released in 2013 to much critical acclaim, spawned the sun-soaked single, ‘As She Goes By’. This set is ahead of their new album launch in August when they will unveil their fifth outing, 'London's Leaving Me'. It is no surprise really that Lorna themselves are attracting a wider audience at last. They have been churning out some wonderful sounds for quite a while now, and are well worth the attention. As they made a quiet but assured entrance on to the Bodega's stage, each one of the band somehow looked as if they had something up their sleeves. It was as if they were school children hiding something. The harmonics of the husband/wife duo up front are testament to how talented this sextet actually are, and, again playing a shorter set, they treated us to two new tracks from the new album, 'Alastair Sim' and 'Bigger than Sound' before they drifted into an older track, 'Understanding Heavy Metal Parts I and II' from their 2005 second album, 'Static Patterns and Souvenirs'. 'As She Goes By' from 2013's 'Heart of Wire' was next, before they returned to the present with three tracks from the new album, 'In Amber', the title track 'London's Leaving Me' and finished with 'Wayne Mills Is'. They were hiding something indeed. These new tracks are a massive step up and should really project Lorna into the limelight they richly deserve. Asking if they had any more time, a beaming Mark Rolfe thanked everyone for attending and they left as quietly as they arrived. Photos by Dave Goodwin http://www.davegoodwinimages.com

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