A shy nod towards the audience is about all Ann Scott can manage when she first comes on stage, but her performance displays much more confidence than such apparent reticence might lead you to expect. “Is everybody okay?” Scott asks early on. The audience cheers loudly, perhaps sensing she might need a bit of encouragement. “Me too,” she responds, “so far.”
Scott is here to launch her second album, We’re Smiling, released on her own label Raghouse Records three years after her well-received debut Poor Horse. Joe Chester, during an impressive support slot cut short by a broken guitar string, told us that Scott was upstairs putting her eyelashes on. Now we can see what he means – Ann’s fluorescent fake eyelashes give her an otherworldly appearance that somehow suits her beautiful and intelligent music.
‘Imelda’ is dedicated to all the ladies, and exhibits the powerful rush that Scott has spoken about getting from listening to pop music when she was young. The idiosyncratic ‘Feather For Feather’, which sees emotive lyrics give way to a series of yelps and heavy breathing, packs a real punch and might be the song that converts unbelievers. The single ‘Mountain’ also has a brooding power.
The tracks from We’re Smiling sound as good as anything from the first release, while also seeming more optimistic. Scott seems almost apologetic when she plays new material, but with songs this strong, she doesn’t need to be.