Daughter LIVE @ The Somerset House Summer Series, 10.07.14

Rating:

I’ve often found myself thinking: “If I could sing and was able to write heartbreaking songs, and was generally a lot cooler than I am currently, I would be a lot like Elena Tonra…” Despite my lack of musical talent, her extreme modesty and endearingly awkward presence on stage is something I can strongly relate to and – as she continually self deprecates and interrupts her introductions to songs by telling herself to “just stop talking”, I can empathise with her extreme discomfort at having to talk to a large group of people (though I’ve never had thousands of people come to watch me before…) and general desire to hide from the world as she expresses herself in other ways.

Tonra’s chosen way to communicate is through song, and how wonderfully eloquent she is at it. Along with Igor Haefeli on guitar and Remi Aguilella on drums, Daughter are experts at delivering some of the most beautiful, heartrending pieces of poetry around today. And, what better place to witness these enchanting creations than within the historical grandeur of Somerset House… After a sweeping instrumental start, the band then flow flawlessly into the subtly powerful ‘Still’, with all the dark beauty and soaring emotion that you’d expect. Bringing us back down to earth, Haefeli then begins the first of many endearingly grateful thank yous to the crowd: “Thank you so much for coming, there’s so many of you! We really weren’t expecting this…”

As Tonra’s emotion-strewn vocals soar through the moving ‘Love’, Haefeli ingeniously strikes a violin bow across his guitar whilst the drum’s pounding beats vibrate through my bones as the sun sets over Somerset House. Utterly enchanting. And, after another outburst of modest gratitude from Haefeli (“Here are some old ones we wrote in my bedroom – couldn’t ever have imagined that we’d be playing them to 3000 people!”), Daughter continue to enchant the crowd with the delicately alluring ‘Landfill’.

Despite her fragile frame and shy nature, Tonra exudes an inspiring, intense power throughout; as her gloriously crisp vocals tell spellbinding tales of love and loss, an eerie, ethereal beauty flows through its historical surroundings with ease, captivating each and every one of us. And, although so many of Daughter’s lyrics seem somewhat dark – “My mind’s lost in bleak visions, I’ve tried to escape but keep sinking” (‘Human’) – the delicate melodies that accompany them remove any sense of morbidity, leaving only a twinkling spark of beautiful sadness.

Delivering album favourites such as ‘Human’ and ‘Smother’, Daughter continue with a grandeur equal to their surroundings and – as their 3000 fans sing along to every word and resounding, atmospheric sounds ooze from the stage (despite technical hitches) – a bewitching aura flows through the mild July air.

Appearing to end the set with one of their older tracks, ‘Home’, Haefeli then reassures us that they “will be back to play more songs – it’s not an encore, we’ve just got a bit of a surprise lined up”. As I rack my brain for what this surprise might be, a number of orchestral instruments are lugged onto the stage and all my guesses are proved wrong. Apparently having recently recorded an EP at Air Studios with the classical musicians who now take to the stage, Daughter end the set with striking renditions of ‘Youth’ and ‘Amsterdam’.

So, despite a few technical hitches and the band’s lack of self esteem (though, in my opinion these factors only add to my love of Tonra and co.), Daughter succeed in delivering a magical set, perfectly suited to its resplendent surroundings.