Tonight marks a first for Jessica Moss, here in Cardiff as the live support for Big Brave. So low is the Moon’s ceiling that she’s been forced to set up on the floor in front of the stage for fear of breaking her violin bow on the upstrokes. By her own admission, her performances aren’t much of a visual spectacle, and she encourages us to take a seat unless we’re desperate to see what pedals she’s pressing with her bare feet. But what follows – which she describes as, in part, an attempt to project internal weather systems through music – is a masterclass in how to transfix an audience.
Feeding her violin through an array of effects and deftly layering self-samples and manipulated vocals, Moss weaves a richly evocative sonic tapestry that underscores the significance of her contributions to Thee Silver Mt Zion. It radiates a mournful beauty, but the ominous drones presage a gathering storm.
And that storm duly arrives live on stage in the form of fellow Canadians Big Brave, who’ve played UK festivals End Of The Road and Supersonic in the past weekend. The thunder rolls in with Carvers, Farriers And Knaves, and when the drums kick in at the start of The One Who Bornes A Weary Load, the sky cracks open and we feel the full fury of their elemental force.
As you might assume of a band that has toured extensively with Sunn O))) and until recently called Greg Anderson’s label Southern Lord home, they know a thing or two about pinning punters to venue walls with punishing volume. The trio are experts at sculpting chords and screaming feedback into a form that seems almost physical and slowly crushes the air out of your ribcage. And yet perhaps the most powerful weapons in their arsenal are patience and pacing: the ability to pause altogether on occasion, and to take time to allow audience anticipation to build.
By the time Big Brave come to tour an album, they’ve usually already started moving on and can’t resist incorporating new material into the set – but this time around they’ve made the conscious decision to give the songs from latest LP Nature Morte some breathing space. As ever, Mathieu Ball spends the set juggling his guitar like it’s on fire, grinding the headstock into his amp; Robin Wattie’s vocals are stronger than ever and timekeeper Tasy Hudson seems to be hitting the drums with added vigour.
Each song is a molten rumble that erupts, spewing sonic lava that may be slow-moving but cannot be outrun, consuming all in its path. Thankfully, that low Moon ceiling in Cardiff just about holds firm.
Big Brave + Jessica Moss, The Moon, Cardiff, Mon 4 Sept
words BEN WOOLHEAD
