SELK debut new album with intimate gig at The Grand Social

Alt-folk group SELK debuted their new album Shed the Skin yesterday with an intimate, evocative performance at Dublin's Grand Social.

The small venue suited the intimate feel of the paired-down instrumentals and evocative lyrics. Lead singer Anna Jordan moves back and forth between a keyboard and ukulele while Dennis Cassidy plays an impressive variety of percussion. Two bass guitar, two backing vocalists, a violin and standup bass complete the ensemble.

Jordan strikes up an almost conversational tone with the audience of around five dozen, giving the show a uniquely private feel. At points, it feels as though I'm are sharing an intimate experience with both the crowd and the band. In other moments, the performance is spellbinding enough to make you feel like an intruder on a private moment between Jordan and her craft.

It's as if she's performing music and reading from her diary at the same time.

"Half the album we've been playing quite a while, so it's amazing to get it on the record," said Jordan. "The other half I wrote during the pandemic, so it's a little melancholy. I did set out to write a bunch of songs you all can jam to, but you have to accept that's what it is."

Only one or two songs are upbeat at all, but far from being a monolith of melancholy, their songs evoke a range of emotion from the audience.

They kick off with tracks from their 2016 album, 'To the Wind' and 'Sweet One' which are notably sorrowful. But as they move to 'No Saviours' from the new album, Jordan's vocalisations  give the impression of birdsong, her voice high and soft where previously it had been plaintive.

Despite her profound, emotional material, Jordan doesn't take herself too seriously.  As she plays the opening notes of 'No Saviours' someone from the band pipes up, "Your uke is off!"

She takes it in stride with a joking, "good tip!" met with laughter from the audience. The audience is very receptive, but it's almost jarring to hear the crowd break out in cheers between songs as our attention is held so rapturously while they perform. "

The live version of 'Spill' deviates intentionally from the recorded version, with the band going out of their way to give it "a more ambient feel," in Jordan's words.

She is a talented live performer, and the subtle differences in each track come through crystal clear when heard live in a way they might not on the album. As she segues into an older song, 'Been So Long,' she remarks "Its been a while, I thought I wouldn't be nervous. Don't know why I thought that!"

There are supportive cheers from the crowd, and someone calls out, "We love you Anna!"

Selk.

'My Only Friend' centres Jordan's gentle, tender vocals and piano, while 'Silent Sea' affects a haunting funeral dirge.

"I drank gin before this. That was a bad idea with the lemon in my throat!" she laughs before going on to perform the eerie but enthralling title track to her previous album, Beast. 

A steadily-building crescendo of drums fills the room to a nearly claustrophobic affect as flashes of light overhead mimic oncoming headlights. The song chillingly conveys the particular horror of stumbling across three dead stags in one night, as friends of Jordan's once did.

Finishing with the title track to the new album, Shed the Skin, the setlist showcased the band's impressive range. The audience, which to that point had remained largely silent and deferential, broke out into chants of "One more tune!" as the band left the stage.

SELK ultimately wowed the audience with a sense of incredible catharsis.

Listen to Shed The Skin below.