Maria Somerville’s calmness radiated through the space; even the people at the bar had quieted down to listen to this divine take on shoegaze. On the hi-fi system, you could almost close your eyes and taste it: a caramelized noise with a soft goth-folk core. Her music swirled you into a lumbering drift, entangling you in soft-spoken stories of home that pricked like rose thorns. It was a delicious dream, so easy to lose yourself in, like being in a distorted light tunnel off the Irish coast, or deep underwater looking up through a fisheye lens at angels floating in the sky.
The Irish songwriter whispers guided us through vivid nostalgia. Her ambient orchestrations turned songwriting into lightscapes of inner-worldly secrets. Her music carried the soulful legacy of Grouper’s drone-pop, built on angelic vocal layering and instruments lost in church echoes. While emerging from a core of sensitive folk, the ethereal production sounded like Cocteau Twins lost in a digital soup, evoking a sonic landscape radically detached from rational space.
As the show progressed, the calmness expanded into a profound sense of self-intimacy. The vocal mantras led to a place of transcendence, which seemed to be the main theme at Espace S.A.T. Between sets, Dave P., wearing a “Choose Transcendence” hoodie, perfectly curated this mood by playing tracks like Füxa’s cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Some Things Last a Long Time.” It felt safe, and invited a deeper approach to listening.
The experience was not only calming but deeply fulfilling, as Maria Somerville’s music expanded the formal style of shoegaze into a form of her own through her latest album Luster. With songs like “Projections of You” which touch on sensitive subjects of loss, her music evokes an emotional presence that calmly bring us back to the realities of life. A reminder that music is not only a form of entertainment, but has a sacred quality. It is the kind of music that feeds you, that brings you back to life.
This show is one to be remembered. Maria Somerville has unequivocally achieved a form of music which transcends, and Making Time XXV was there in its blossoming moments, to highlight that effervescent feeling.
