LIONHALL

A two-piece from Scotland, Lionhall are now honourary Geordies after upping sticks and moving to the North East for university. After falling in love with their earliest recordings on bandcamp last year, local label Tiny Lights snapped them up and added them to their ever increasing and impressive roster, and are now about to release Lionhall‘s debut EP Rhizomes.

With their sparse, chilly sound and male/female vocal interplay, Lionhall have inevitably drawn comparisons to The XX, and they certainly share that same intimate, chill-out in the dark after the party ends vibe. ‘Colour Me’, the lead track from Rhizomes manages to combine a sense of space and iciness with an endearing delicacy and fragility, with lead singer Ana’s vocals piercing through the darkness to the point where it feels like she could be singing right into your ear. Much like this contrast within their careful melodies, Ana’s voice is both defiant and fragile, switching from an ethereal almost-whisper to a beautiful swoon. This intimacy comes to the fore when Lionhall play live as you witness the chemistry between Ana and fellow band member Sean. There’s an atmosphere of electricity when they perform, and its utterly impossible to not fall under their spell.

Words by Linsey Teggert

Lionhall play Evolution Emerging @ The Star & Shadow Cinema, Saturday 25th May