MUSIC PREMIERES
For a music fan, there really is no greater cachet than being able to say: “I knew them before they blew up”. It’s the thrumming feeling that permeates every sweaty, cramped gig venue when an audience can see, in real-time, that they’ll never get to see this artist in a space this small again.
That’s the vibe at indigo at The O2, the small 2,000-capacity room sitting literally in the shadow of London’s most coveted arena space. It’s here that NME Cover stars KISS OF LIFE – made up of Julie, Natty, Belle and Haneul – proclaim that, whatever happens next, we are the “OG KISSYs” (the name given to their fandom). Everyone in the room knows the venue’s intimate proximity is about to become a real bragging right.
Despite a shaky start – the quartet hit the stage 30 minutes late – all is forgotten when the quartet pull out their black sunglasses and get in formation for their viral hit ‘Igloo’’s now-iconic TikTok challenge choreography. Screams erupt so loud you can barely hear the song’s low-key soundscape, which can be expected for a tour that’s light on production value.
Though K-pop is known for its visual overstimulation, KISS OF LIFE’s first world tour is a stripped-back affair with only a black stage and a couple of side-of-stage screens for decoration. There are a few teething problems as a result, like a moment where the group go off stage for a costume change, leaving an awkward, silent intermission. But that bareness also allows their vocals and performance to shine, and they have both of them in spades.
They’re as comfortable twerking to songs (‘My 808’) as they are sitting with handheld mics for ballads (‘Nothing’). The moment where they sing an as-yet-unreleased song called ‘Wine House’, a ’90s-infused R&B track reminiscent of groups like En Vogue and TLC, is a standout because there’s a palpable sense of confidence that’s usually inhibited by being so exposed on stage.
Sexy is a term that hangs around KISS OF LIFE like a mist. It’s infused in their song choices and choreo. “That song is so sexy, right?” Julie purrs after they sing the scintillating ‘Chemistry’ to whoops and hollers. But if there is any knee-jerk concern that comes with seeing four women focus on sexuality in their performance, especially in an industry where questionable ethics around young female idols feels front and centre for so many, the foursome make sure to let fans know they’re in on the bit.
They hone in on that tongue-in-cheek vibe for ‘Te Quiero’, where the group bring one fan from the crowd on stage for the most up-close and personal show of their lives. The quartet dance as a unit but then also give solos, with some members climbing over the fan like a sexy striptease. Seeing them take hold of their sexuality and funnel it to one person rather than a mass feels like an allegory for autonomy – they’re the ones holding it and they get to decide what they do with it.
As they say their goodbyes, the room vibrates to the point that the camera beaming their image onto the screens at the side of the stage can’t focus and becomes a fuzzy mess. Though the concert hits the beats any seasoned K-pop fan would expect, KISS OF LIFE pull off something unplannable: they leave you wanting more. Thankfully, it seems like they want to keep giving us more, too.
‘Bad News’
‘Igloo’
‘Get Loud’
‘Wine House’
‘Chemistry’
‘TTG’
‘Nobody Knows’
‘Gentleman’
‘Te Quiero’
‘My 808’
‘Nothing’
‘Sticky’
‘Midas Touch’
‘Shhh’
‘Bye My Neverland’
‘No One But Us’
‘Back To Me’
After first rising to prominence with the expansive, 1980s-inspired dream-pop of ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ and its standout tracks, Ethel Cain has spent much of her artistic journey trying to step away from that sound. She’s leaned into a moodier mix of drone, ambient rock, and raw analogue textures. “I’m not a fucking pop artist,” the Tallahassee singer once told The FADER, adding, “I reject that wholeheartedly.” Her experimental projects ‘Perverts’ and ‘Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You’ make that stance very clear, and her latest tour often feels like a firm break from the softer sounds that brought her into the spotlight.
For the first of her five headline nights at Hammersmith Apollo, Hayden Anhedönia builds a scene that feels like a slightly playful, gently eerie B-movie graveyard. She spends most of the performance tucked inside a moss-covered altar, surrounded by dramatic lighting and a crucifix mic stand. The show is nearly silent when it comes to onstage chatter. The rare moments she does address the audience are understated and easy to miss. When a fan shouts their love for her, she responds with a simple “Thank you!” from the darkness.
Instead of walking the stage to build energy, the lighting design carries that weight, mirroring the intensity of her songs. During the gritty, heavy ‘Dust Bowl’, she sings inside a slowly circling beam of light that sweeps across the Apollo with piercing brightness, while strobing green and white lights heighten the tension during long instrumental passages.
Ethel Cain. Credit: Connie Burke
As the warm, rough-edged guitars of ‘Knock At The Door’ fill the room, the production shows it can match the strange, atmospheric side of Cain’s catalogue, even if those moments are rare tonight. The set doesn’t lean heavily on ‘Perverts’, but brief pieces of ‘Houseofpsychoticwomn’ and the title track make their way in. The industrial ballad ‘Vacillator’ appears in full, bathed in stark white light as she softly sings, “If you love me, keep it to yourself,” on a track heavy with buried emotion.
For the most part, the night is devoted to ‘Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You’. The album slows the cinematic Southern Gothic of her debut ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ and explores the dizzying pull of a teenage love triangle. The shimmering synths of ‘Fuck Me Eyes’ and the lush strings of ‘Nettles’ bring an early glow, before the performance drifts into hazy ambient dream-rock reminiscent of Grouper. The mood is thick and steady, though it lacks big shifts in dynamics, leaving the set on a single emotional wavelength.
When ‘Tempest’ is briefly stopped and restarted so medics can help an audience member, ‘Waco, Texas’ follows as the main set closer. The encore then pivots toward older material, shifting the tone entirely. After a heartfelt ‘A House in Nebraska’, Anhedönia steps out from behind her green altar for the first and last time, moving into the brighter side of her discography with ‘Crush’ and ‘American Teenager’. Even though she has expressed discomfort with her most well-known tracks, their contrast with her darker material gives the finale a powerful lift. After holding the room in quiet tension for so long, their arrival feels like a release that lands with even greater impact.
