“I can’t wait to see Mothers and witness how they translate their latest album live because I have no idea how they do it...that’s one of the great things about live music”
Spoken by the unorthodox French support act Clementine March, these pertinent words resonated at Hackney’s Oslo which hosted the 4-piece, math-rock / indie-folk outfit Mothers led by their frontwoman, Kristine Leschper. Having released their 2nd LP last year, Render Another Ugly Method, the amalgamation of push-and-pull rhythms and dreamy instrumental landscapes caught my attention with Leschper’s lyrical oscillation between strength and vulnerability. Drawing on inspiration from Sufjan Stevens’ folk delicacy, as well as Lightning Bolt and Tera Melos’ visceral math-rock rollercoasters, Mothers produced an unorthodox set showcasing the sheer talent and musical nature-of-force from the ineffaceable Leschper.
The set's opener ‘Circle Once’ from their latest LP set the evening’s tone - jolting rhythmic changes, hypnotic call-and-response guitar exchanges, and Leschper’s introspective lyricism on the ‘escape of the body’. With fragility encompassing her voice, Leschper spoke “tell me you are not terrified by your body”, pleading with her lover for a degree of moral empathy in her longing for personal validation. Giving way to the hypnotic and steadier grooves of ‘Blame Kit’, Leschper’s further personal excavation was often reminiscent of fellow contemporary Adrianne Lenker, whose album and live set I recently reviewed. Buried within her tranquil vocal delivery, lied the poeticism of Leschper - exuding painfully self-critical remarks such as the following track’s lines, “I felt your love for a little while, but never had the guts to give myself up...I don’t like myself when I’m awake”. This juxtaposition between the haze of dreamy instrumentation and Leschper’s deeply introspective lyricism translated admirably well into its live format uniquely imparting an emotionally visceral tone on the intimate crowd.
The mid-section of the set brought a welcomed, slower-tempoed respite, including such emotionally-kinetic tracks as ‘It Is a Pleasure to Be Here’, ‘Beauty Routine’, and ‘Wealth Center/Risk Capital’. Attempting to grasp at the concept of beauty and self-appreciation, Leschper once again delved into the throes of her lyrical prowess amongst various brooding musical crescendos, exclaiming “show me a beauty routine, to erase me completely”. These stipulated misconceptions of beauty soon transcended into the latter track featuring an enticing spoken word passage repeatedly stating, “I am excited by the prospect of living without a body, I am ungrateful and this proves it”. Whilst some of the mid-section tracks proved overly-lengthy in parts, the continuing themes of beauty and ‘escaping the body’ tied the set together remarkably well throughout the evening.
Lastly, within the set’s culmination, Leschper explored the act of consent. Overlaying much of the hazy Pink Floyd-esque instrumentals of the track ‘Fat Chance’, the symbolic question of “how many fingers must you put in my mouth just to muffle my apology?’ particularly resonated in a growing age of the Me Too movement. Shortly thereafter, the band reverted to such vehemently-driven tempos shuffling in-and-out of Leschper’s ever-changing emotions - at times powerless, yet powerful in other moments. The final track from Mothers’ latest LP came in the form of ‘Pink’ - another intimate and deeply introspective track for Leschper and co. Similar to that of Adrianne Lenker’s existential questioning of life’s cyclical nature, Leschper questioned the consequences of birthing new life, “your eyes roll back, and I think of babies born, first scream into infinity, and I am tired”. It is these poignant and sometimes cryptic tones of lyricism which allow such immensely-talented female singer-songwriters to mark their authority within their indie-folk genre of today - something which I feel grateful for witnessing in the flesh.
Although the closing Doopees cover track did not earn my favour in its wallowing tones, I certainly respected an unorthodox band for continuing their unorthodox lineage. The pure spasmodic rhythms conforming to such dreamy and visceral landscapes encased with Leschper’s lyricism, made this event a memorable one. Whilst I may require more from Leschper’s vocal range as well as guitar tone variation, the 4-piece worked emphatically well - intrinsically keeping time amongst the push-pull nature of such intricate math-rockisms. I am beyond pleased to remark on March’s aforementioned curiosity over Mothers' live performance, and confirm that their studio recordings transcended onto the live stage conjuring an enticingly hypnotic abyss - a far more existential experience than listening to them at home through Poundland-priced headphones.
7.5/10
Mothers’ latest LP, Render Another Ugly Method, is out now and can be found here.
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