MARTHA WAINWRIGHT | LIVE PREVIEW

Tramshed, Cardiff

Thurs 26 Jan

Honestly, it’s not often one settles down to write a preview for a show and has no idea what to expect, but in touring her latest release, Goodnight City, Martha Wainwright could take her audience in any number of directions. Her sixth album, penned in collaboration with a variety of relatives, friends and fellow musicians (notably including Beth Orton, Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs and Wainwright’s brother Rufus),  is a genre-hopping, mood-swinging, nomad of a record, never content to sit within the limits of one musical canon for more than the space of a song.

The only constant is the quality of Wainwright’s gloriously versatile vocal presence; from her restrained performance on the mournful and blue One Of Us, to the driving rock of So Down, on which Wainwright unleashes her full sonic power and astonishing range, hers is a voice that adapts beautifully to each song, taking in its stride stylistic differences, as though they were of no consequence. It all adds up to an eclectic, but never less than powerfully engaging experience, which, when replicated live, will doubtless make for a fantastically memorable night.

Tickets: £24.50/£22.50. Info: 029 2023 5555 / www.tramshedcardiff.com

words HUGH RUSSELL