There’s a queue for everything these days. Some short, some long, but most excessively frustrating for one reason: there is always one obnoxious person that defies the unspoken rule of the queue: KEEP CALM AND WAIT YOUR TURN. Fortunately for the kind people queued outside the Islington Assembly Hall patiently awaiting the North London folk outfit, Daughter, there were no such offenders. Contrarily, the queue resembled the mysterious and grounded lyrical landscape of Daughter’s Elena Torna.
Like most children, Daughter was aroused out of the convergence of two paramours: Elena Torna and Igor Haefeli. The couple, however, didn’t sum to the typical boyfriend-girlfriend musical duo that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova or The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger fell into so gently. The two found love in a hopeless place (AKA they met on a songwriting course at university) and decided to shake up the stereotypical vocal and guitar folk setup. Following the acquisition of a harmonium, two band mates, and a Communion record deal, Daughter found themselves awaiting the funk-acoustic four-piece, Theme Park, to headline the sold-out Islington Assembly Hall in London.
All four members of Theme Park arrived at the front of the crowded stage in an assemblage of guitar strings. Before the audience had a chance to sip their first brew, the feel good quickie ‘Milk’ gave way to extravagant foot tapping, but most upper-bodies remained still. It wasn’t until Belle and Sebastian’s remains were revived on the chorus of ‘Jamaica’ that picked heads up from the glow of their smart phones. The shoulder swaying began and continued into the carefully suspended final note of their set.
Just as shoulders started to slump and legs began to ache, Daughter took their positions centre stage and set the venue alight with their long-awaited presence. A quick nervous “Hello” was all Elena Torna offered before plucking her way into the dark tune ‘Run’ that sent silent shivers up the spine. Meanwhile, the father of Daughter, Igor Haefeli, laid out the shadowy abstract landscapes distinctive to ‘The Wild Youth’ EP on electric guitar. The sharp, but measured drum kicks, and the warm folk progression of ‘Landfill’ introduced Elena Torna’s soft harmonies and her contrasting desolate tales of love and death.
Next came the crowd favourite ‘Medicine’ and the ever-intriguing harmonium. Torna began to push and pull the accordion-like instrument creating the despondent pulses of the mournful refrain. At times, Torna’s vocal layering and looping on the EP proved difficult to convert into a live set, but the raw experimentation was all adored in the roaring applause that ensued. Likewise, Haefeli’s violin bow addition to the electric guitar on ‘Love’ scratched dangerously close to clamour while, simultaneously, peaking the curiosity of the enraptured audience.
Then, all was still. The unblemished Torna unveiled the haunting romance of ‘Candles’ and instantly cast the silent room inwardly into a thousand different walks down memory lane. The deft guitar arrangements and assured flutter of her intonations evoked a dark blend of Lucy Rose and Laura Marling with a slight twist of Emiliana Torrini.
The nostalgia blanketed the audience and concluded with an outbreak of smiling faces that didn’t subside until long after the final vocal abstract ‘Tomorrow’ fell out of the rafters. Daughter and Elena Torna proved that some queues are worth the wait.
Words and photo by Woodson Black