Everything happens for a reason is an overdrawn idiom expressed by most yet I don’t think there’s a more applicable situation I can apply this to than my reason for being at Tempesst’s most recent gig at YES. A couple weeks prior I was scrolling through the indie-rock section of a record shop in Chester when I came across the cover for ‘On the Run’ by Tempesst.
Misplaced though they were — as upon my first listen I found they adhered more towards psychedelic rock — it came to my attention that they were soon to play in my area. Though I’ve stated the band as psychedelic rock, I’ve found that genres are confluent in Tempesst’s eyes {or ears} as their 2023 release ‘Prisoner of Desire’ brings more of a indie pop-
rock element found particularly in tracks such as ‘Sunset at Maria’s Pt. II’ and ‘Pop’. In comparison to ‘Must be a Dream’, an album assuredly more psychedelic-rock as found in appropriately titled ‘Mushroom Cloud’ {most of which they played — but I’m getting ahead of myself}.
Continuing through to their current release ‘Forbidden Fruit’ – there remains within their world a multitude of
influences that continue to mingle each passing album. Alongside Tempesst were Geowulf as the support, previously a duo act between vocalist Toma Benjamin of Tempesst and Star Kendrick. In 2022, Toma left allowing the project to become solely ran by Kendrick.
Leaning more into dream-pop/rock, the act brought melodies reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac. ‘Something Good’ opens with a euphonic tune that sounds as though it would appear from a music box that one may have as a child, a fitting appellation as the track is taken from their most recent album ‘The Child’ — an ode to Kendrick’s own toddler. Preforming to an initially stiff audience, the meditative chorus of ‘Stay Baby’ allowed people to loosen with a slight
sway before finishing on ‘Dreaming’ with the slight zills of a tambourine persuading a couple in
front of me to twirl and sway once more.
After a fifteen minute interlude, the crowd becomes a little fuller. The guitarist appears to tune the instrument alone before the room descends into darkness momentarily to be lit again by four blue lights. I’m unsure whether I’ve step foot in a church or whether I’m being abducted as a space- agey synth invites us to meet the leaders of our evening. Toma’s vocals are given a slight reverb on the mic, as though to reaffirm the possibility of abduction.
Despite this, now more grounded I’m reminded of Alex Turner’s voice in Artic Monkey’s later works as they preform ‘Anonymous in New York’ with the salient lyric ‘what did you expect from a city that loves no-one?’. Then follows
‘Darkness {Into the Light} in which instruments are secondary to voice as we’re guided through a story of a man tormented by his own sorrows.
Imbued into Tempesst’s repertoire is a litany of religious themes and subtle nods of freedom; whether this is through the orchestral backing vocals or shown explicitly in their titular album ‘Forbidden Fruit’ or lyrics that insinuate pithily to this theme such as ‘Holy Father, do you still feel my breath on your face’ {Sad Eyes} or ‘take me out the darkness and into the light’ {‘Darkness {Into the Light}}.
In addition to this I find there to be coalescence of old Americana, the Jack Kerouac kind that is particularly prevalent in ‘On the Run’. It is no surprise then to learn that Toma Benjamin alongside brother Andy {drummer} both grew up in church together, playing for the church band — later making the itinerary from Australia to America, more specifically Williamsburg in NY where their indie-rock edge presumably emerged weaving into the colourful whimsy of Australia’s own Californian dream.
After a few more tracks and an endearing round of ‘Thank ya’s’ they close with ‘Waste it With You’, a not-so-subtle cordial gesture of thanks to the room which is now at capacity. Initially, I believed the set list ought to of featured ‘Mushroom Cloud’ last as the instrumental break – a Tame Impala type synth – encouraged the most effervescence within the crowd; however I was deceived as the legend of ‘one last song’ triumphed and the actual closing track came to be ‘Voices in My Head’. A joke is made about the last track being an ode to Oasis and the band descends the stage with the same enigmatic entrance as they came.
WORDS AND PHOTO CREDIT – EMILY VOILET
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