Outside London’s intimate Peckham Audio venue, there is a crowd eagerly waiting to enter. Tara Lily played a sold-out show last Friday, which was a combination of sophisticated jazz, modern dance and heaps of unadulterated fun! It was a great opportunity to hear her raw and unique sound as she mixed jazz, Indian classical and alt-R&B sounds.
The 24-year-old- British-Bengali singer played some of her older tracks, opening with her previous single, ‘The Things You Do’. An emotional track, taken from Tara’s debut 2021 EP ‘Lost in London’, Tara’s performance had the entire crowd in the palm of her hand. With her soulful, soothing voice, Tara left the audience relating to her heartbreak on certain tracks. When they weren’t busy dancing, that is.
Tara then went on to play songs from her new EP. Released in September ‘Last Flight Out’ was described by Tara as being about “movement”, “travel” and “immigration”. It was with her cover of ’Naima’, originally by John Coltrane, where Tara really showcased her vocals. She continued to cover Miles Davis’ ‘Blue In Green’ and played ‘The Ones I Lost’ — another track from her debut EP.
She was joined on stage by a full band, including a saxophonist and sitar player. From these relatively calm, chilled vibes, things got a lot more energetic. Tara described ‘Hotel Amour’ as being her “angry song” or one she usually sings when she is angry. The song describes a turbulent love affair and creates scenes of fleeing from a lover in the night — leaving someone for good, not looking back.
“Jazz-y dance” track ‘Don’t Explain’ had everyone moving, as Tara urged the audience to dance. To which, they complied. ‘Don’t Explain’ was Tara Lily at her best. She takes her jazz training and creates her own, distinctive sound by fusing it with Drum and Bass elements. It has the making of a tearjerker (“You’re my joy / My pain”) but the beats are so much fun, you can’t help but move.
Next to be played was current single, ‘You Can Go’. Tara described the song as being about having feelings for someone, which aren’t exactly reciprocated so she tells the object of her affection “I don’t care / I don’t mind” on ‘You Can Go’.
Tara gave a confident performance, despite claiming to be a little tipsy. You couldn’t tell! But what was evident was the way she gave her performances her all. Her vocals were strong and she knew how to command the stage. Due to popular demand, Tara is playing the same venue this Saturday (November 19th) and it’s not one to miss. She is definitely a star in the making with her fresh take on jazz, bringing it into the mainstream.
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Words: Narzra Ahmed
Photo Credit: Nadia Otshudi
