LIVE REVIEW: James Apollo
 | | |
The Sheepwalk, Leytonstone High Road, E11
WITH a tall, skinny frame as wiry as his mass of light brown hair, James Apollo cuts a distinctive, mysterious shape on stage - a protruding brow throws great shadows over sunken but bright and beady eyes, cheekbones permanently hollowed as if taking the world's longest drag.
Ensconced in skinny jeans and hand-me-down suit jacket, Apollo slots right into the latter-day troubadour, 21st Century hobo image.
But, Arkansas-born and dusty of throat, Apollo has got talent in spades - enough to dig his way out of cliché and lay the foundations for some beautifully mellow, and heart-rending Americana.
His short set, ahead of another date at The Slaughtered Lamb this Sunday (October 11), draws material from his second EP How Hard A Heart Of Gold, out this week.
Brushed drumskins and portentous piano married his gravelled sheen on easygoing lead single No East, No West, painting a disturbing dustbowl disorientation in the American desert that chilled to the bones.
Flashes of Tom Waits' visceral energy, Johnny Cash's character and Chris Isaak's fragile high notes all illuminate a gutsy set, and a strong impression that perhaps even Apollo no longer knows how much of his reputation is a hard-knock life, and how much is fabrication and legend.
But, as heartbreak hollers roll out and the down-at-heel I've Got It Easy dies away on a glockenspiel ditty, it really doesn't matter. Catch him in the small venues while you still can. - STEPHEN MOORE
James Apollo plays The Slaughtered Lamb, Great Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, on Sunday (October 11).
|
|
|
|
|
|