If one word could sum up Larkin Poe’s brief in-store appearance at Rough Trade East this week, it would be ‘gratitude’.”This is such a treat to be here with y’all,” exclaims frontwoman Rebecca Lovell as she opens the show, “we’ve come all the way from Germany this morning…” They might be jet lagged, but the only indication the Lovell sisters need as boost is their request to keep the house lights on throughout their tantalisingly short set. We’re gushing too, crammed in between racks of vinyl and autographed posters to catch a brief glimpse of an acoustic sample of Larkin Poe’s new album Bloom.
Larkin Poe @ Rough Trade East
Latest single Bluephoria takes us back to how Larkin Poe must have been at the start of their career, playing roots music in tiny spaces, the melody maximising the dirty purity of Rebecca’s voice. Bloom is so apt as an album title as Megan Lovell’s steel guitar peels like unfolding petals, transcending the record shop atmosphere with a steel solo. “Man, acoustic instruments can still rock,” laughs Rebecca, impressed with her own sound, “it’s so surreal to be here, it feels a little like a dream.” She’s right, of course, as Mockingbird gently moves between contemplations with a heart of steel that beats solidly as it soars between hope and warmth. Their music hypnotises to the point where hearing whispered voices from those next to you feels out of place. The ‘second ever worldwide debut’, as Rebecca calls it (as they performed a matinee show a few hours earlier) of You Are The River provides the perfect soundtrack for a moment as precious as this: it fills the room with an overwhelming depth and warmth, pushing out slow waves of reassurance that glisten like honey in the sun.
Of course, it’s not only tenderness that saturates the Larkin Poe sound. “We’re gonna be brining some brimstone and hellfire to the stage, ladies and gentlemen,” promises Rebecca before God Is A Woman. It’s a proper stripped back country holler that stops and starts provocatively, alternating between gliding and strutting. We murmur a singalong like an incantation that grows to a choral shout. But then, on the other side, we get Little Bit which swings with a cotton clean comfort, a song that touches your hopes and makes you grateful for every part of the journey, rough and smooth with a solo that wrenches out nostalgia and value and appreciation.
As quickly as Larkin Poe take the stage they rush off for their signing, providing only a taster of their current sound ahead of their next UK tour this October to keep us intrigued. If their next London show at Eventim Apollo is anything as honest and touching as tonight, it’ll be the warmth we need to get us through the next winter.
Review of Larkin Poe at Rough Trade East on 28th January 2025 by Kate Allvey, photography by Louise Phillips.
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