LIVE: Years & Years @ Nokia Lumia Live

I was recently lucky enough to spend the day as a guest of the lovely people at Mission PR (Tamsin & Zoe, what lovelies!) who look after Nokia’s PR adventures. The day was spent at the Bristol HQ of Nokia, and was for influential bloggers to check out the Nokia Lumia and all it entails, as well as having the pleasure to meet some top Nokia warriors, big up Justin & Jethro! It was a great day, very educational and I fell in love with the phone. The previous day they’d asked me to email 25 of my favourite tracks, which I did, and at the end of the visit they gifted me with a Nokia Lumia and what looked like a flimsy 10p sized sticker, which they tapped against the phone, which then in turn bleeped and informed me that my playlist was uploaded to the phone. Brilliant! That’s the techy bit done, suffice to say I’d fallen out of love with my i phone for the first time.

unnamed (57)

Nokia are staging a series of live gigs in alternative locations, and I went along to check it out and to have a drink with my new found friends. The venue was the old Aldwych Underground Station, derelict since 1994 I believe and its haunting cavernous echoey halls were a a lovely tangent to the regular live spots you invariably inhabit. The majority of the audience were well versed in the London look, fairly austere but with perfectly tousled hair! I was intrigued as to why there were far more girls than lads…

years 2

The act of the evening was a band I admittedly hadn’t heard of before but I was more than enthused by them. They are a three piece that go by the name of YEARS & YEARS, and I understand they’ve garnered a bit of a cult following already. We’re in the midst of a soul revival and this boy had it down. Bedecked in a baseball shirt and cap. You know when you’re watching someone who was meant to be doing  just that and nothing else. No self esteem issues driving the inherrent nervousness and mask of cool that you so often see with emerging front men/ women. The music swung from contemporary pop/ R&B to electro to soul, to folktronic and carried an undercurrent of persistently infectious grooves and moog fuelled rhythms. Each song was so well crafted it was hard not to stay silent throughout and just marvel at what seemed like the witnessing of something very different, and pretty special. Towards the start of the set they pulled off a remarkable cover of Blu Cantrell’s ‘Breath’. The frontman sporadically sat down to sing but consistently mastered the ‘ol eye to eye crowd stare. He had the girls in the palm of his hand. His voice reflecting a bit of Bieber, a swaithe of Timberlake and a host of old soul influences even so far as a young Alexander O’Neale amd a bit of Nina Simone. This boy’s surely been listening and digging in crates.

I caught up with him briefly at the end, he was surrounded by young ladies and I had to break through the throng and pass him my regards for a set well executed. He’s a Gigslutz fan so we hit it off, as I did with his lovely Manager who came armed with a seriously dangerous smile! His main influences are Joni Mitchell, Alliyah and Little Drago apparently. Brings you back to to the core when you stumble upon a gem, unwittingly, especially when it’s not one of your chosen genres.

years & years 1

Another nice touch to the evening was when I approached a girl who was there on her own, and this always evokes admiration in me and potential Gigslutz writer possibilities. I introduced myself and she said “I love Gigsluz, I used to write for you and that lead me to the job I have now with Digital Spy.” We took a snap, so big up Amy Davidson, sweet girl.

years

Keep your eye on this band if you haven’t already, they’re off….

David Ham

@gigslutz_radio