Daughter played Glasslands with Lay Low (pics) & Mercury Lounge (video), playing BV-SXSW

March 13, 2012

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo; words by Bill Pearis

Daughter @ Glasslands

UK trio Daughter had their first U.S. shows this past weekend playing Mercury Lounge on Friday (3/9) and Glasslands on Saturday (3/10). I made it to the latter which happened prior to the BV-presented Django Django show.

In essence, Daughter is a showcase for the talents of singer/songwriter Elena Tonra who spoke with nervous laughter and a wry sense of humor which offset the sometimes dour natures of her lyrics. “This song is about death,” was how she intro’d “Landfill,” the lead track off Daughter’s His Young Heart which just came out on bigshot indie label Glassnote (Mumford & Sons, Phoenix). Tonra’s breathy delivery fits well with her delicate fingerpicking skills and minor chord melodies, but it was her band that elevated it above the overcrowded folk millieu. Guitarist Igor Haefeli had a bank of pedals at his feet, favoring spooky atmospherics over traditional lead parts, and even used a bow at one point to great effect. Drummer Remi Aguilella kept it simple, though on a couple songs played bass at the same time. “Love,” which closes the His Young Heart EP, was especially impressive with an extended outro which you could imagine getting a killer trance/house remix. Somebody do that please.

Daughter’s in Austin now for SXSW fun, including our Hotel Vegan day party on Friday (1PM) that also sports Widowspeak, Django Django, Nardwuar’s band The Evaporators, TRUST, The Black Angels, Youth Lagoon and lots more. If you’re in Austin, do try and catch them even if its not at our thing.

Back to the Glasslands show, I missed Icelandic opener Lay Low, though I had seen them at M for Montreal in 2010. Dominick did, however, and got some nice pictures which you can see below, along with more photos of Daughter. There’s also video of Daughter’s entire Mercury Lounge show (shot by iwaseasymeat) down there as well. Check it out….

Daughter at Mercury Lounge, 3.09.2012 (via iwaseasymeat)