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Rating: An overcast Bologna accompanies me on November 15th on the way to the Teatro Antoniano where, in an autumnal climate that couldn't be more fitting, the Daughter would soon perform — Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli, and Remi Aguilella. A British trio, only for the convenience of their passports as the names suggest, who this year, with "If You Leave", their debut LP, made a splash following some interesting EPs and a solo career start. Clearly, I'm referring to Tonra, who took a moment before recruiting the two highly capable interpreters of her melancholy. I arrive just in time to enjoy the last notes of this very young Danish singer-songwriter, known as "Broken Twin", accompanied by just one violin, all very minimal, but with delicate, effective openings that even remain in the head of the most distracted hipster at the last second. Little time to judge, but a more than pleasant impression for a composer still at the beginning. It's just past 22:00, and on loop are The National and Sigur Rós, just to create even more atmosphere in the room. I chat with my friend and allow myself the only technical consideration of the report: I am not made for the theater. Or rather, I can't experience concerts sitting in a seat. This is not a classical opera, call it indie, new wave, whatever, but I feel the urgent need to move, even if only to let myself be carried away by the spectral waves emerging from the world of Daughter. I may be strange, but while the location seems so suited to the solemnity of the London trio, I feel rather uneasy being almost forced to stay in my seat as if I were chained.
The lights dim, and finally, accompanied by a burst of applause, Daughter takes the stage. The e-bow used by Igor introduces "Still", and since Elena softly begins with "I'll wrap up my bones", there's no turning back. A tremendously expressive voice that echoes and amplifies that nostalgic aura permeating every song in the young discography of our group. The melodies are enveloping, and it creates an intimate atmosphere, so emotionally fragile yet impactful. A rarefied environment where Daughter paints their tormented interweavings, architecting every moment to perfection, showing genuineness and spontaneity in every little detail, from interacting with the audience to letting themselves be carried away by their performances, speeding up songs like "Candles", decidedly endowed with a verve unlike the EP "His Young Heart". The interludes leave a sincere smile on my face, with Elena almost embarrassed and shy when interacting, yet determined to unleash from her vocal cords all the sentimental discord in search of a state of peace in her torment. It's Igor who's the ironic side of the trio, considering Remi is engaged among the pulsating beats of the bass drum and patterns that awaken you from that hypnotic infatuation caused by Tonra's voice, which clearly articulates every piece in the setlist with an interpretation that surely one would tend to associate with veterans of the scene, not (as Igor says) to kids who in 2010 were rehearsing "Landfill" in his room. Yet, it's not so; Daughter delivers a brilliant performance. If in the beginning, I referred to the theater in a "asterisked" manner, the positive aspects are to be found in the scenography. Essential with the sole use of smoke and lights, but used with versatility and able to be a respectable frame for our performance, plus acoustics showing no weakness.
It doesn't matter what instrument is on stage. Whether it's the keyboard in the background or the second guitar helping when Elena is busy on the bass, the equation in the end is simply winning. Igor and the guitar are one, the pick or bow are intermediaries that merely bring to light how his technique serves the melody and the lacerating experience where only "Human" seems to put a damper on that flame extinguished in the warm yet paradoxically icy arpeggios of Daughter. Nothing is left to chance, and if "If You Leave" is the evening's worthy protagonist, the initial EPs His Young Heart and The Wild Youth aren't forgotten, contributing to the escalation in the trio of wonders. A journey that begins with "Tomorrow", then dons the robes of "Youth", and finally explodes in "Home". Here is where I must interject. It's a song I already like a lot with its constantly breaking against the chorus "take me, take me", yet once again Daughter decides to give it a more incisive connotation than on the record, and indeed, the final crescendo becomes gorgeously post-rock. The distortions spawned by Igor increase, and meanwhile, he engages in headbanging that you'd expect at a Raein concert (just to throw a random name, eh). Meanwhile, Remi speeds up the beats with drums and cymbals struck with a liberating force that infects even Elena, who abandons the microphone and finally lets herself go, forgetting personal shadows and worries. A triumph. The Antoniano responds ecstatic and asks for one more small gem, like morphine to delay the evening's end. Daughter waste no time and after a few seconds return with a rendition of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky", almost sarcastically towards their own music, as Elena mentions, referring to the depressive nature that might have left its mark on us through the group's sound.
But when the strings stop vibrating, the curtain really falls, and I haven't even noticed the hour and a quarter that has elapsed since "Still", an impressive fluidity of execution, and Tonra's voice live leaves you enchanted, little to say, not to detract from the excellent Remi and Igor. Hoping to see them soon again in Italy, I take up the umbrella and walk again in a nighttime Bologna that, even more so than before the concert, helps preserve every single note of Daughter.
SETLIST:
Still
Amsterdam
Love
Landfill
Winter
Candles
Shallows
Human
Smother
Tomorrow
Youth
Home
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Get Lucky
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