Charm of Finches
The Lexington, London
20 June 2024
A lot of small bands are struggling to put tours together these days, but somehow Charm of Finches have managed to come all the way from Australia for an extensive tour in each of the last three years. I don't know how they manage it, but I'm glad they do, even if the spread of dates this year made it difficult for me to get to any except the London gig.
The Lexington is new to me, and first impressions, honestly, are that I'm in the wrong place. I shouldn't judge by looks, but it looks like it's used to hosting rock bands with mosh pits, not acoustic vocal duos. But appearances are deceiving, as the venue is most excellent. The sound system is pristine quality; the amplification is louder than I would have expected, but comfortably loud, and perfectly balanced. The bar at the back—usually a red flag in a venue—is, remarkably, completely silent during the music. It's a standing venue, but I'm not quite too old to stand yet, and I get a prime spot with a great sight line to the stage.
Support is a half-hour set from Mia Kelly, a singer from Quebec with some great songs (including one in French, which is something guaranteed to win me over) and a really engaging rapport with the audience.
For their set, Charm of Finches lean very heavily on their new album, which I haven't heard yet (because making them post one from Australia seemed silly when I knew I would see them to buy one on this tour). This makes it difficult for me to comment on, or even give the names of, any of the songs. The main one to stick in my head is Marlinchen in the Snow, because any song based on The Juniper Tree is automatically going to get my attention. But all I can really say about the songs at this point is that they, obviousy, all show off the duo's main selling point: their voices. With arrangements stripped back to a single guitar and keyboard, it's the warmth and beauty of their voices that carries you along with the music.
Although the new songs all sound great and I look forward to listening to them some more, inevitably it's the handful of old favourites that are the highlights for me. The harmonies on Canyon give me literal goosebumps, and the encore of Wonerful Oblivion (it's a song about being dead; why am I always attracted to the songs about being dead?) is just perfection.
It's a fairly short set (barely over an hour) but it's worth the trip. Still wish I had managed more dates, but I have confidence I will see them again next year.
