Sound City Review: Marli and Heartbreak

Day two of Sound City and by now it is pretty evident around the city that the festival is in full swing with the bars and clubs filling up in the early evening for some of the lesser known acts.

However, one of the evening's bigger performances was Metronomy's midnight show at the beautiful Alma De Cuba. The Brighton based electronic pop group had their first headline tour last year and have in recent months added a new drummer and bass player to a new live show, dubbed Metronomy 2.0. There are more lights and more fiddly bits but their electronica sound is as unique as it is brilliant.

They were proceeded by a rather bizarre Anglo-Argentinean duo Heartbreak whose front man Sebastian Muravchix reminds one of Freddie Mercury and whose sounds reminds you of something from a 1980s European discotheque!

Earlier in the evening, I went to check out Marli at Chameleon bar. Simon Cowell once told the former Fame Academy contestant that whilst she was a great artist he wouldn't know what to do with her talent.

After three unsuccessful record deals Marli is now settled with London based Goldust Productions and will be releasing her new album White Light later in the year. Included on the album is collaboration with Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch.

"This is a real woman's album. Every song on there is personal," she said after a short set where her gorgeous voice delivered some poignant lyrics. "I have been through quite a hell of a life so far and I've probably been through every emotion that a woman could ever feel."

The weekend is upon us and Sound City is cranked up another notch with headline acts White Lies and Little Boots at the O2 Academy tonight and over the next two days literally hundreds of other acts will be performing across the city so make sure you get out and see some fantastic live music!

Words and picture: Hugh O'Connell
See more of Hugh's work at: http://hughoconnell.wordpress.com