As I arrived at Strange Brew – a DIY arts space and one of Bristol’s coolest live music venues – the night’s sold out event was already veiled with a dense shadowy pall. Bristol’s goth & alternative subculture, with our signature raven-black attire, have summoned themselves early to cram into the venue.
The anticipation for She Past Away is palpable. After all, this is the Turkish dark wave duo’s first ever show in Bristol. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that, while I waded my way through the sea of black lace and crushed velvet, the crowd was already grooving effusively to the stylings of the night’s support act: ACTORS. A glossy post-punk foursome from Canada who have fashioned a brand of post-punk that is eminently danceable. Therefore, I decided they were worthy of this quick shout out.
Volkan Caner (guitar, vocals) and Doruk Öztürkcan (keyboards, drum machine) solemnly take their positions on the stage to a breathlessly enthusiastic chorus of cheers and applause (did I mention this was their first time in Bristol?). They begin the set with the icy and brooding ‘İçimdeki Düşman’ with Caner’s deep, guttural vocals adding a sinister tone.
The set opener is also the lead track from their latest studio album Mizantrop, and is just their fourth full-length studio album since forming in 2006. The album, predictably given the title, explores themes of isolation, alienation and introspection. Themes that repeat throughout the set with tracks as ‘Sessiz Orman’ (Silent Forest), ‘İnziva’ (Seclusion), Durdu Dünya (The World Stood Still).
The staging is sparse. Aside from the group’s kit, all that is visible is the band’s name on a screen, written so faintly in a cursive script as to be almost translucent and completely effaced when the icy blue and haunting red spotlights begin pulsating. Caner and Öztürkcan, for the most part, remain rooted to their respective spots on the stage.
Some fans have mixed opinions on the band’s subdued stage presence. I think it’s a wise choice that redoubles the frosty, cavernous atmosphere. However, the reliance on drum machines and a bass backing track doesn’t carry the same punch that might be delivered with a live bassist, for example.
The essence of the darkwave genre – minor key tonality, rhythmic post-punk basslines, slow-mid tempos, reverb – serves to cultivate dark, brooding and bleak atmospheres augmented by the deeply introspective, detached and despairing lyricism. It’s definitely a vibe that swallows and consumes you whole, but remains intoxicatingly danceable despite the bleak landscape remoteness that suffuses the music.
She Past Away are among its most consummate practitioners, creating a darkly romantic, theatrical world, both on record and in the live setting. Earlier on in the set, Öztürkcan, in a rare moment of audience interaction, exclaimed: “we regret not coming to Bristol before”, eliciting raucous cheers. It’s no wonder the band felt this way. Bristol, proving why it’s the best live music audience in the UK, immersed itself inside the duo’s world, swaying and whirling rhythmically in a kind of meditative and fatalistic acceptance. The material world around us burns, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dance to its hypnotic soundtrack.
Dan Adshead
