Live

The Noisettes, MPO

Emma Murphy 15/10/2009

With a recent surge in new female artists appearing on the music scene of the last few years there seems to be a current trend for comparing these new ladies to the true legend of Kate Bush, personally as a huge Kate Bush fan I am a firm believer that Kate Bush stands in a league of her own and no one compares in comparison to her wonderful weirdness, so when MPHO take the stage as the support act to the Noisettes and cover 'Running up the hill' I'm already rolling my eyes up to the ceiling. However credit giving where credit is needed you can't knock MPHO, the girl can certainly belt out a song, brilliant voice that rattles the entire hall, the band themselves are hard to hear over the Shirley Bassey styled vocal range of this lady. The media have been queuing up to pigeon hole MPHO, I say give the girl a orchestra, a sound to really justify and back up her vocal range, give it a few months and coming to a James Bond soundtrack near you these are the heights that MPHO's voice could take her.

In a recent interview with Skunk Anasie, Skin really citied the Noisettes and in particular their lead singer/bass player Shingai Shoniwa for being really set apart from many of the female artists out there at present so I already have high expectations of their performance. Sure enough Shingai has a totally unique, fragile voice that sounds like it could break at any point, but familiar songs such as breakthrough hit Don't Upset the Rhythm don't do Shingai's voice the justice it deserves, but she rocks out to songs like 'Don't Give Up' compliments her voice so much more effictively. Anyone getting into the Noisettes have to give particular attention to their early album 'What's the time Mr Wolf' as it's a much more grasping album, allot more rocky and something to get your teeth stuck into compared to the latest album 'Wild Young Hearts' which despite gaining more commercial success seems a world away from the first album. The Noisettes with their funky keyboards and jazz styled sound incite a very exuberant audience that all enjoy their performance, here's hoping that they later bring out more work that's more likened to the early music as that genre of Noisettes is a band that's not afraid to cross over to the dark side of life and that's the kind of music that is going to stand out in an already satirized music world of pop songs.