Waylayers support To Kill A King on their UK tour this month, a new electro-pop 3 piece who tonight made a big impression on me in just a few songs. Undeniable dance vibes reflective of the current success of bands like Years And Years are clear, although Waylayers take more of an electronic strong stance of samples and tropical synth sounds. Their frontman stands with an equally strong stance on stage, moving his knees and hands quite stiffly, perhaps it’s a new form of The Robot. There’s a refreshing and unique use of keyboard and synth samples from the band; steel drums and panpipes can be heard in different tracks, it certainly catches your attention. Signed to Alcopop! Records and with a voice like Chris Martin, this definitely won’t be the last we’ll be hearing of Waylayers in the near future.
To Kill A King enter the room to a great cheer from the reasonably full venue, the stage is decorated with their own bright light bulbs hung from the ceiling to dimly show off the small stage. There’s another interesting turn of events as the band enter, I realise of the 5 members, only 2 were there last time. To Kill A King have had a band revamp, and this new line-up is reflected in the lack of old songs and predominantly new material the band play tonight. But luckily for us, this isn’t a bad thing.
‘School Yard Rumours’ and ‘Compare Scars’ are some of the best tracks from To Kill A King’s recently released eponymous album. A progression from the band is amazing to see from their last record, the inclusion of synths and laptop on stage sees them moving into the modern music age. ‘Compare Scars’ has a pulsating beat skulking subtly below the electric guitar lines and Ralph’s booming voice, but perfectly giving the song a sense of solidarity and pace.
But with that, To Kill A King’s original song-writing formula hasn’t changed that much. Compelling melodies and raucous guitars are found here as ever, topped off by some killer backing vocals as Ben screams his falsetto ooos and ahhhs perfectly. It’s always a pleasure to see a band that can perform everything they did on record to a tee live and are truly at home on the stage.
There’s an overwhelming majority of upbeat and just generally fun songs in To Kill A King’s set and the crowd love it. ‘Good Times’ and ‘World of Joy’ are full of funky bass lines, sweet major chord progressions on keys with smiles all round – it could be plucked straight from a kid’s TV show. Before ‘World To Joy’ Ralph shows off their new toy, a microphone with vocoder “I can use it to hide my identity from the audience…*swaps mics to creepy low voice* … fuck you”. This gets a good laugh and another “WE LOVE YOU RALPH” from a rather over excited man in his 30s. To Kill A King just produce simple and enjoyable music, folk influences still there but with a modern twist now so you can really understand what the fuss is all about. We even get performances of old classics ‘Howling’ and ‘Funeral’.
An anticipated wait with stamping feet and accelerating claps leads up to a seamless encore, the way it should be. Ralph returns alone with his trusty acoustic guitar to play a lovely solo performance of ‘Cannibals With Cutlery’. Gentle finger-picked guitar accompanied by Ralph’s incredibly powerful but calming voice is a wonder to behold. To Kill A King is really “The Ralph Show”, but it’s not a bad thing, the man has underestimated charisma and a lot of talent – his vocal range is simply astonishing.
The remaining four members return for a final hoorah to play current single ‘Love Is Not Control’, cheeky guitar melodies and drum clicks topped off by a big chorus with flawless harmonies. Tonight was a real showstopper and their new album has been on repeat ever since.
Elli Brazzill
@littlelionelli
Elli Brazzill
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