agnes obel. live.

who: agnes obel with anne müller and gillian fleetwood

when: 9 november 2011

where: the ruby lounge, manchester, uk

support: martin john henry

if you´ve never heard of agnes obel before, you should change that immediately because you´re simply missing out on so much if you don´t know who she is. her debut album “philharmonics” contains a great deal of catchy piano tunes combined with a clear and rich voice. last Wednesday, danish born agnes obel stopped in manchester for the second time this year to play an incredible show at the ruby lounge.

martin john henry opened the night with a rather wonderful eight song set which left me quite impressed. much to my annoyance, not everyone in the audience seemed to appreciate him, especially this group of four chatty females who just wouldn´t shut up. but fortunately henry didn´t seem to care much and still delivered a great set. singer-songwriter henry, who is originally from scotland, gained critical acclaim as the lead singer of de rosa. his band released two studio albums before splitting in 2009. since then henry has worked on solo projects, releasing his first record “the other half of everything” in october this year. his music is based somewhere along the lines of acoustic folk and indie represented by his beautiful voice, great lyrics and mostly the sound of his well-played guitar.

after a short break agnes obel, accompanied by anne müller (from germany) and gillian fleetwood (from scotland), entered the stage. once she played the first few notes of “liana” the audience suddenly went quiet. it was absolutely magical. agnes obel´s compositions are brilliant, her lyrics are literally painting timeless pictures.

with obel herself on piano, müller on cello and fleetwood on scottish harp, it was the ideal set up to present “philharmonics” live. as if the amazing piano sound wouldn´t be enough, the extraordinary way müller added her stunning cello to the songs, they sure fulfilled the definition of perfection. once fleetwood also joined in with her scottish harp, there was absolutely no way anyone in the audience could not feel the magic that was going on up on stage. when the cello was replaced by an acoustic guitar for “brother sparrow”, the trio showed once more why they play so well together.

we were not only treated to quite a few album numbers like “beast”, “over the hill” and the wonderful “riverside”, but also to some new songs / non album tracks like “sons & daughters” and an absolutely wonderful rendition of elliott smith´ “between the bars”.

agnes obel manages to combine folk and classical elements with a warm, enchanting voice, gorgeous lyrics and mesmerizing melodies. the piano instrumentals are just as addictive and not lacking vocals in any way. the addition of cello, acoustic guitar, harp and some perfect backing vocals which fit beautifully into obel´s lead vocals, simply make “philharmonics” and especially her live performance a real pleasure.

 agnes obel

  gillian fleetwood

 anne müller

agnes obel, anne müller and gillian fleetwood

agnes obel is still on tour around europe in november/december. make sure to check her facebook page for a ful list of dates.