Pitchfork London has been a unique event in the festival circuit. A City festival situated over a week in the heart of London; it has seen an expert curation of artists from around the world – the most talented rising stars, big names and end-of-year list favourites. Already this past week we’ve had Jessica Pratt, Empress Of, Arooj Aftab and Far Caspian take the stage at various venues. But perhaps the centrepiece of the festival, hosted by the magazine that gave your favourite album a 4.8/10 review, is its Dalston Takeover, where four venues in Dalston were taken over for the night in favour of music that announced itself to the world as the place to be. All situated within walking distance, people had a choice between the venues and could move about them at will.
There was a hefty lineup spread across Dalston – Geordie Creep, Shame, Chanel Beads, Friko, Marika Hackman, but what drew me to remain in St. Mathias Church for the entire day – aside from the ethereal, haunting experience of watching a gig in a Church with a natural in-built sound system that comes from the echoes around the room and the sheer novelty of cracking open a pint in one, which has to be some kind of sin itself, was the trio of Bloomsday, Anastasia Coope and Hannah Frances, each responsible for three of the best albums of 2024 – especially headliner Hannah Frances, a haunting, gothic experience that would be too surreal not to see. Getting there early is always a treat as first act Bloomsday were a special kind of band – who had spent the previous night in Brighton at Mutations Festival, which shared a lot of overlap with the Pitchfork lineup. Iris James Garrison writes songs that pierce the soul; hold a mirror up to it and make it feel known. Folk songs like Heart of the Artichoke, creativity and the memories of the mundane, show a creativity of their collaborative work at their best.
Garrison; as most acts this week have been in a state post the US Election, coming to terms with the horrifying reality of a pending Trump presidency, was able to make a humorous plea for a marriage of convenience to stay in the UK – after all, they were in a Church, able to make the small, intimate setting feel connected and welcome at ease.
The short set allowed for album hit Dollar Slice to be played – the Brooklyn band showing their strength. It’s how you get raw feelings through sound – and the quiet hours where ghosts rise to the surface made it feel odd seeing them perform anywhere but a Church. Garrison’s lyrics bring the ghosts of the past up to come and haunt them – whilst still being embraced firmly in the present and the here and now. The indie-pop duo of Garrison and Alex Harwood make their mark on the evening – and ensure that they are well worth catching up on – agreeing with the audience that their attempts at a British accent are best left to the side. There was even time for an Adrienne Lenker cover – the master of modern folk – Bloomsday paying respect to their idols. Lenker covers seem to be the trend of supporting artists currently on the folk scene; but it’s all the better for it.
Next came Anastasia Coope. There was a bit of a worry for Coope who had arrived in the UK with her guitar missing courtesy of British Airways, every performers’ worst nightmare, but getting it back must have come as a relief – and that relief is present in her set, bringing new album, Darning Woman, to life with a style that examines the world beyond the material – disconnected to any time period or setting and instead thriving on embracing the spectral, haunting landscape of it all. For Coope, it’s a “mixture of maternal sensibility with the idea of a character, a star” feels like a relic of the distant past, something out of the 1940s or the 50s. Songs like He Is On His Way Home, We Don’t Live Together – punctuated the lyrics with a graceful overture – a case study of gender ideology, tradition and the need for a sense of self. The choirs made the Church again, a natural setting for such a performance – and as Newbin Time made the most out of the blunt-but-effective lyrics; promising the audience that “I will do something new, I will be something new”.
The headliner, Hannah Frances, held your attention with the spectacle that one might suggest from an intimate set. She joked about having to bluntly tell the audience at her past gig the meaning of what her album was – opening with two tracks off her latest album, Bronwyn and the titular track Keeper of the Shepard, before going into Oranges, a song written in 2020 about the process of letting go of your dreams with someone in a relationship. The whole show felt like a spiritual self-healing and self-discovery in the aftermath of one, and realising that you’re happy that you didn’t marry your ex. It’s an album of grief and at multiple times, Frances makes a statement about family – and the strained parental relationships. The sheer amount of complexity and echoes of Adrienne Lenker and Joanna Newsom made this a statement album – one of 2024’s strongest efforts. Haunting and richly lyrical, removed from a time of space and mind – Frances uses her background as a classically trained vocalist to bring a complexly open storytelling to the script – she’s opened for the likes of Fleet Foxes, Hurray for the Riff Raff and more in the past and it’s easy to see her deserving headline status now – obviously not as shouty a headliner as say Shame or even Marika Hackman but brilliant in her own right – and one of the strongest and most intimate gigs that I’ve seen all year.
The set grapples with grief and has a real poignancy to it – untangling yourself from the baggage of your ancestors and moving on, every song has a story that flows consistently throughout. The intimate set deserved all the bigger headlines and names – St. Mathias Church was a beautiful setting for it; makeshift recording and all. Not often you get to go to Church on a Saturday but when it’s to see a trio of artists as brilliant as these – it’s more than worth making the pilgrimage.
Pitchfork London Dalston Takeover took place on November 9, 2024.
Learn more about the festival, including other shows, at the website.
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