London gets its first taste of Drink The Sea tonight, and it immediately feels like something special. Touring in support of their debut releases I and II — issued together as a double album — the newly formed six-piece deliver both records in full, alongside a handful of choice cuts from their collective past lives in Queens Of The Stone Age, R.E.M., Mad Season, and Joshua Homme’s Desert Sessions. It’s a deep, immersive evening that rewards attention rather than demanding instant gratification.
Drink The Sea @ Jazz Cafe
The band begin at the very start, opening album I with Shaking The Snakes, a slow-burning, exploratory piece that sets the tone. Duke Garwood’s hushed, cosmic vocal delivery floats above Alain Johannes’ winding guitar lines — played on what appears to be a Portuguese guitar — as Barrett Martin’s fluid drumming keeps everything tethered. Saturn Calling is the first moment the set truly lifts off, R.E.M. man Peter Buck shadowing Johannes’ lead lines while Abbey Blackwell’s bass locks into a funkier, more propulsive groove. Outside Again follows, built around striking vocal interplay between Johannes, Garwood, and Martin, its choral textures offset by subtle guitar flourishes.
For Pour Your Glow On, Johannes switches to an eight-string cigar box guitar, while Lisette’s Balinese gamelan introduces a warm, tropical shimmer. Sacred Tree shifts into something more jazz-inflected and introspective, Garwood’s clarinet becoming central to its emotional pull. The worldly influences continue on Bembe For Two, which blends Malian rhythms with a distinctly Pacific Northwest sensibility, the band visibly enjoying the freedom this music affords them.
Garwood returns to guitar for the hypnotic Sip Of The Juice, its infectious groove pulling the room deeper into the band’s orbit, highlighted by Johannes’ delicate, understated soloing. Embers is a standout moment, and the only track tonight where Peter Buck steps into the lead guitar role. Drenched in reverb and subtle gamelan textures, the song unfolds slowly as Blackwell switches to double bass and Garwood delivers a rumbling vocal performance, harmonising beautifully with Martin and Johannes.
There’s a quiet sense of unity as Where We Belong rolls out, and it’s hard to argue with the sentiment — the Jazz Café feels like the perfect setting for this music. Buck’s shimmering 12-string adds to the communal atmosphere, before Johannes introduces Paredes, Garwood’s growled vocals attempting to chant down the walls between band and audience. House Of Flowers follows with delicate instrumental touches, before The Strangest Of Seasons signals Buck’s return to his trademark Rickenbacker tones, twisting beneath Johannes’ lead guitar.
Spirit Away drifts gently through the venue, Garwood’s clarinet floating above a hypnotic polyrhythmic groove from Martin and Lisette. Midnight Starlight sees Martin step away from the drum kit to bow and play the gamelan alongside Lisette’s shaker, creating one of the night’s most atmospheric moments. Mouth Of The Whale carries the set into darker waters, Blackwell’s basslines guiding the band toward emotional depth, Garwood’s clarinet lending fluid intensity.
The first cover of the night, Mad Season’s Long Gone Day, is warmly received, with the crowd joining in as Martin leads the vocal trio. Meteors launches the room back into orbit, Johannes’ eight-string guitar cutting through Blackwell’s driving bass. Butterfly flits past in flashes of progressive free jazz, while Rose Crested Heart sees Blackwell return to electric bass, locking in with Garwood’s rich guitar work. Introduced by Johannes and Martin, Sweet As A Nut grooves effortlessly, its meaning landing clearly with the audience.
The cosmic journey continues with The Land Of Spirits, a tripped-out exploration that leads into Tuareg Asteroid, once again propelled by Martin bowing the gamelan. The biggest reaction of the night arrives with R.E.M.’s The One I Love, the Jazz Café erupting as nearly the entire room sings along. Johannes then introduces Making A Cross from the Desert Sessions, its slow-building tension setting up a powerful finale.
The set closes with Queens Of The Stone Age’s Hanging Tree, transformed into a sprawling jazz-funk epic that feels both reverent and newly alive. After two and a quarter hours, Drink The Sea leave the stage having delivered a fearless, deeply immersive performance — not just a supergroup flexing its pedigree, but a band genuinely committed to exploring new musical ground together.
Live review of Drink The Sea @ Jazz Café , London by Simon Phillips on 17th December 2025. Photography by Adrian Hextall.
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