With influences that borrowed from middle period Paul Simon, James Taylor and Bruce Springsteen – as well as dance and electronic music – The Little Unsaid stopped off in Lichfield during their latest tour.
The four piece was made up of songwriter John Elliot on lead vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards, Mariya Brachkova on synths, keys and backing vocals, Alison D’Souza on strings and drummer Tim Heymerdinger.
Their sound is full, bolstered at turns by sampling, vocal refrains, tight harmony singing and live looping adding harmonised guitar and viola parts to the songs.
The set opener Vibrant Life started with Elliot’s plaintive vocals, undercut with simmering viola, before an industrial dance track was triggered.
The songs often move from genre to genre, with none of the musicians losing either their place or their sound in a mix that blends repetitive tones and notes to intricate drum and keyboard parts.
Most of the set comes from their yet to be released album with the title track, Fable, being a satisfying combination of funk bass, harmony vocals and delicate songcraft.
The band members are all talented players, but what sets them apart is the strength of Elliot’s writing, touching upon issues of real life.
Can We Hear It? features a choir of children adding poignancy to the track, just one of many detailed additions that mixing adds to the depths of the songs.
Fine World (When You Look It In The Eye) was introduced as a Christmas song, but the swagger of the rhythm section – and a guitar part that was an amalgamation of the Allman Brothers and the Rolling Stones – meant that is was more than a hymn to the time of year.
The country-like swagger of encore Act of Vengeance showed that the band were also an ensemble of considerable power.
