Kristina Train – Live at Black’s, London

With support from Jake Bugg and Jake Mattison

Tonight we’re crammed into a tiny upstairs room in Soho for monthly musical extravaganza, Society of the Golden Slippers. With the Oriental/Victoriana décor, it’s like being in Oscar Wilde’s living room, although it’s unclear what he would have made of the painting of a pregnant woman with a bunny rabbit head. Rather incongruous in such a setting is northern lad, Jake Bugg, a scarily talented 17-year-old who appears to have stolen a much older man’s voice. Bugg looks and speaks like Liam Gallagher’s moodier, younger brother, but sings like an angel from a land called Country and Blues. Dylan and Donovan are obvious influences but Bugg is rarely derivative – when he croons “I’m a young man from Kentucky, have a guitar but I’ve got no money” you do wonder what he knows about that. But elsewhere, as on ‘Slide’, he draws on that moment in youth when you realise the world is a cruel and chaotic place. Recently signed to Mercury, we predict a meteoric rise.

Next up is Jake Mattison, who spent his formative years as a scallywag on a rough Manchester estate, and now sings heartfelt, blues folk in a voice tempered by whiskey and gravel and guaranteed to make grown men weep. Imagine Adam Duritz from Counting Crows after a night gargling sand and you come somewhere close to the depth and richness of Mattison’s vocal. When this man sings about sorrow, you believe him.

More used to supporting great acts – she’s spent the year touring with Herbie Hancock, no less – Kristina Train is tonight supported on guitar and electric piano by Ed Harcourt, who co-wrote two of the songs on her debut solo album, ‘Spilt Milk’. Although Train cites Karen Dalton and Janis Joplin as influences, her voice is softer but no less rich, with a smoky husk on the edge in the vein of Aretha Franklin, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Michele Stodart. This is highlighted by first song, ‘Spilt Milk’, with its contrasting quiet and loud parts and satisfying rasp on the higher register. It’s a classic-sounding jazz number with echoes of the southern soul Train grew up with, full of barely controlled heartache and loss. ‘Lonely Sinner’ is another delight, a slower, bluesier affair that starts low and understated and soars to the emotive lyrics “You’re so damn beautiful.” A new track, this bodes well for her forthcoming album which Train is currently working on with Harcourt.

Train herself is a mesmerising performer, unostentatious and relying on the strength of her vocal and material to create drama and tension. When prompted for an encore she shyly tells us she’s had flu, which is why she’ll be reading the words from a handwritten sheet – just the kind of self-deprecating behaviour that appeals to us British audiences. With all the makings of a modern jazz and blues star it’s high time for Train to step out of the shadows and become a great artist in her own right.

Words by Theresa Heath
Photo by Brad Inglis

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