Robin Thomson | Michelle Gurevich, Hard Club, Porto, 24.02.2023.

© Telma Mota

words: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota

With a sold out box office the opening act was served by Robin Thomson, founder of the Twin Sons project. The glamorous lo-fi sound of the Berlin based Scottish musician revealed a multifaceted composer and performer, with an engaging voice and captivating soundscapes, evolving with well-seasoned guitar chords where the best references echo. Note for Can You Feel It as an introduction to closer listening by this musician who accompanies Michelle Gurevich on guitar.

Michelle Gurevich had an auspicious debut in Portugal in a room filled with an audience for whom this Canadian of Russian origin was not at all unknown. “Why did it took me so long to come here?” asks Michelle after starting with First Six Months Of Lov , a song with a Cohenian flavour, from the album New Decadence (2016). On a pre-recorded background sewn with Robin Thomson’s creative guitar, Michelle Gurevich captivated the audience with her ballads wrapped in the discreet theatricality of a non-diva diva, covering several titles from her six albums produced since 2006, such as: Vacation From Love, Party Girl, Aviva, Drugs Saved My Life, Mrs Robinson or her latest single Goodbye My Ditactor, whose sender seems to be a certain Vladimir.

Michelle Gurevich carries a well-resolved set of references, offering her own sound in lo-fi pop territory, which is not alien to her warm and engaging voice, supported by a solid and honest poetic construction, tempered by a certain tragicomedy of reality.

© Telma Mota

texto: Neno Costa (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); fotos: Telma Mota

Com a bilheteira esgotada, a primeira parte deste concerto foi servida pelo fundador do projeto Twin Sons, Robin Thomson. A sonoridade glamorosa lo-fi do músico escocês radicado em Berlim revelou um compositor e intérprete multifacetado, com uma voz envolvente e paisagens sonoras cativantes, evoluindo com acordes bem temperados de guitarra onde ecoam as melhores referências. Nota para “Can You Feel It” como introdução a audições mais atentas deste músico que acompanha na guitarra Michelle Gurevich.

Michelle Gurevich teve uma estreia auspiciosa em Portugal numa sala cheia de público para quem esta canadiana de origem russa não é, de todo, desconhecida. “Por que demorei tanto tempo a vir cá?”, pergunta depois da abertura com “First Six Months Of Love”, canção de sabor coheniano, do álbum New Decadence (2016). Sobre fundo pré-gravado costurado com a guitarra criativa de Robin Thomson, Michelle Gurevich cativou a assistência com as suas baladas envoltas em discreta teatralidade de diva não diva, percorrendo vários títulos dos seus seis álbuns produzidos desde 2006, tais como: Vacation From Love, Party Girl, Aviva, Drugs Saved My Life, Mrs Robinson ou o seu mais recente single Goodbye My Ditactor, cujo remetente parece ser um certo Vladimir.

Michelle Gurevich transporta um conjunto de referências bem resolvidas, oferecendo uma sonoridade própria em território pop lo-fi, à qual não é alheia a sua voz quente e envolvente, sustentada por uma construção poética sólida e honesta, temperada por uma certa tragicomédia da realidade.

© Telma Mota

Amazing Songs & Other Delights #41 – The Burt, the Tom and So edition by Raquel Pinheiro

Amazing Songs & Other Delights #41 – The Burt, the Tom and So edition airs tomorrow Monday 27th, 3-4pm (gmt) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com/ (or on the app).

There are three Burt Bacharach songs and two Tom Verlaine ones, two solo one with Television and one instrumental from Warm and Cold. There also ten onther assorted songs from Mick Harvey with A Suitcase in Berlin an Aldo von Pinelli and Ralph Maria Siegel’s cover to Ghosts Again Depeche Mode’s latest song.

Tracklist:

01 – Mick Harvey – A Suitcase in Berlin (Aldo von Pinelli and Ralph Maria Siegel’s cover)

02 – Television – Days

03 – Dry Cleaning – Swampy

04 – Beabadoobee – Glue Song

05 – Black Toska – Love of Mine

06 – Hannah Jadagu – What You Did

07 – Cory Hanson – Housefly

08 – The Golden Dregs – Vista

09 – Tom Verlaine – Depot

10 – Burt Bacharach with Noel Gallagher – This Guys In Love With You (live at Royal Albert Hall 1994)

11 – JW Francis – Going Home To a Party

12 – Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello – Such Unlikely Lovers

13 – Tom Verlaine – There’s a Reason

14 – The National – Tropic Morning

15 – Manic Steet Preachers – Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s cover)

16 – Depeche Mode – Ghosts Again

all previous shows: http://www.mixcloud.com/infoyeye/stream/ | http://www.mixcloud.com/raquelpinheiro/stream