At the end of an exceptional week for live music, I found myself in a dimly lit basement in Manchester's Northern Quarter listening to one of my favourite artists. It was a characteristically chilly and wet night, yet as soon as Terra began to play, thoughts of the outside world melted away. The atmosphere was distinct from that in Liverpool where I saw her in February: there was an incredible hush from the outset as the audience were mesmerised. An indication of great musicianship is the confidence to play quietly: Terra sensed the rapt concentration in the room, and in holding back communicated all the more powerfully. Jenny, an extrovert song on her first album, was exquisitely delicately shaded here. The conductor Stokowski's quote: "A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence" seemed apt.
I'd seen The Civil Wars two day's previously, and I was struck by a similarity in the ability to exploit simplicity to express feelings directly. It's actually incredibly difficult to perform simple music to a high level: many pianists will tell you that they're terrified of playing Mozart, because they feel exposed. Terra's 2011 album To Know I'm OK was produced by the renowned John Alagia: whilst the songs there are brought to life with skilful, elaborate arrangements, Terra's acoustic tour is to me even more moving for being stripped down. You can experience this for yourself on a live recording from this year's first European tour, available on iTunes.
There is no doubting Terra's authenticity: she sings about life's challenges, be it a broken heart or issues with drugs. She shares a piece of her inner self in each performance, and talks eloquently on stage about the events and experiences which inspired each song. I found the Vicodin Song, written about the drugs she was prescribed after a car accident, an early highlight of the set, enhanced by lovely piano self-accompaniment. She then explained that In The Summertime was inspired by a 'happy funeral'; this showed her gift for haunting melody. The evening was marked by spontaneity: there was no set list, or formality, just the music.
Terra was classically trained, and it was her pure, pitch perfect soprano voice which captured my attention two years ago when I was first exploring indie music. Yet, in Manchester, I was most struck by her sensitivity: those nuances, pauses, rubato and micro dynamics which are instinctive and have such a powerful effect. She's been touring Europe for some weeks now, and I think that the experience of sensing the reactions of contrasting audiences each night has deepened her performances. Even a happy song, You for Me, was performed at a more relaxed pace than I've previously heard it, retaining its delicacy but with a poignant side. Yet an outstanding cover of Billie Jean illustrates her versatility.
I feel incredibly privileged to be able to see a performer of Terra's calibre in a venue of this size. In 2007, she played Say It's Possible at Live Earth in Wembley Stadium (conveying a message about climate change which has become even more relevant and urgent). Yet she's guarded her integrity, and resisted compromising artistic integrity for commercial 'success'. The new songs she performed in Liverpool convey show an undimmed creativity: I particularly enjoyed the one inspired by a self confessed fickleness of attraction to men. An hour and a half passed in an instant, but left in my memory at the close was a tender, heartfelt performance of I'll be Waiting which brought a tear to my eye. As the composer Delius said, "Music is an outburst of the soul".
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