Studio 9294, Hackney Wick
“Performing on stage, I feel alive.”
This phrase may have been heard numerous times over but for tonight’s artist from Japan, the sincerity of this trite sentence generates new life. Armed with a moral self-confidence and empathy, the singer-songwriter indicts naysayers with a plethora of sanctimonious speeches and inter-crowd connectivity.
Haru Nemuri is irrevocably a product of Japan’s diversified wealth of music: from 70’s prog-rock to 80’s kayōkyoku and 00’s post-hardcore, she enlists an arsenal of assets peppered amongst her elusive songwriting and musical craft. Her latest single, ‘I Refuse’, smacks with punk-inflected cries at its chorus’ heart whilst ‘Never Let You Go’ and ‘Who the Fuck is Burning the Forest’ respectively demand empathy and retribution. Constant tempo alterations and beat switches similarly demand the audience’s attention tonight, in spite of the technical difficulties which Nemuri stalls with impromptu crowd interaction (“So what brought you here tonight?”).
For the latter, a rallying cry against the current state of global deforestation and insatiable industry-driven forest-burning entice the Hackney crowd with a tangible camaraderie. Amidst the stage diving, inter-crowd wandering, incessant hand-waving, Nemuri seems forever hell-bent on assimilating herself here; lost in the performance but connected by the amassed audience (“I shouldn’t do stage diving but I have bad habits, you make me want to”). Surpassing all else, an underlying mantra of “Us against them” is inferred throughout tonight’s set, revealing this Nemuri's intended emphasis on something greater, something more collaborative than just an ordinary gig night.
None better typifies this burgeoning sense of community than tonight’s chosen closers, ‘Noise of You’ and ‘Ikiru’, which glisten and gleam with compassion and evident influences from Japan's Fujifabric and Shinsei Kamattechan. Such backing instrumentals from a live band invariably go amiss, however, Nemuri’s solo presence remains resolute in the face of this - forging a stronger bond between her and the adoring crowd with smothering calls of “I love you” (or to that effect) in Japanese which are thrown around throughout.
Togetherness will forever remain at the heart of Haru Nemuri and her smitten fanbase. Bound by her vociferous live performance she breathes new life into the once-trite phrase oft-heard in these circles. Whilst various moments of the set lacked a slick cohesion and bolstering live instrumentals (or dancers), the unifying effect of Nemuri is what remains with each of us as the lights dim and the huddled crowd turns 180 degrees for a chance to thank her in-person. For such was an opportunity to meet one of the most enticing Japanese acts currently, paving the way for not only new sounds but an infectious hope and fulfilment of feeling interminably alive.
7/10
Haru Nemuri's latest EP, Insaint, is out now via TO3S Records and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Àlvar Luis Gabaldà whose work can be found here.
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