Eden

Eden

May 07

WONDER/FULL

When: 25 April 2018
Where: O2 ABC

This was an impressively controlled and sophisticated gig: from the glitchy electronica of the music, and the excellent band, to the impressive lighting and smoke show that throughout bathed the stage in dense colours and strobes, to the presence of Irishman Jonathon Ng (Eden himself) who was partially, and at times fully, hidden by the lights and smoke but then would emerge suddenly and dramatically for a few seconds.

The audience was overwhelmingly on the young side, with very few over the age of 25, and dominated by female teenagers (I was probably the oldest punter there and by some margin!). This is perhaps a bit surprising given his music: it is electronica, with a James Blake bent which at times tips into more esoteric territory; one song is in effect a long extended instrumental worthy of Kathryn Aurelia Smith. It may be that I am guilty of underestimating the sophistication of the musical taste of the average female teenager here tonight but I suspect that they are drawn here by Eden’s boyishly charming looks (when you can see them through the smoke and dazzling lights!) and his lyrics, which tend to be more direct and accessible than JBs (‘And I got way too many routes to take/To make this all just go away/And find another heart to break’ – ‘Drugs’).

Whatever the reason it is hugely encouraging to see such a young audience being exposed to and embracing this sort of electronica. His song titles tend to the minimalist (‘Drugs’, ‘Sex’, ‘Gold’, ‘xo’ ‘start//end’) but the song content generally has musical and lyrical depth. The best song of the night was ‘rock + roll’ (see sample video below) in which Eden confesses ‘I just wanna swing like Sinatra/Singing like I can’t stop/Cause I could never rock like a Rolling Stone’ – and he isn’t a rocker (despite the guitar solo in this song – ‘And maybe I could play guitar like Hendrix’) but he is an electronica crooner.

I knew virtually nothing about Eden before this gig sand I am really glad I went -even if it attending made me very conscious of my age! It surprised me in term of the stagecraft and more so in terms of the music and I am now an Eden convert. He is only in his early 20s and so is likely to get even better.

 

Band page

Sample video