Live review: Other Lives, Manchester Academy 3, 05/04/12

Having foolishly missed Other Lives on several previous occasions and bittersweetly read the gushing reviews, I knew they were going to be stunning. So with Now Wave thankfully bringing them back into our lives on a grander scale and into the realms of Academy 3 - and Friday being a bank holiday - excitement levels were high.

Hailing from Stillwater, Oklahoma, the five piece are known for their plaintive Americana styled tracks, citing influences from the likes of Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. On record they’re pulchritudinously redolent, allowing you to build your own stories around their words, taking you on a hypnagogic journey. I’m thrilled to say that this feeling was fortified tenfold live; their gentility commanding you to forget everything, and fall headlong into it.

Sophomore ‘Tamer Animals’ definitely takes on a more filmic quality.Heaped in grandiosity, it’s more evocative than their 2009 self titled first release and this explicitly reigns through tonight.

Set opener ‘How Could This Be?’, with its militant melody, showcased front man Jesse Tabish’s celestial vocals effortlessly - with the harmonies throughout reminiscent of the empyrean Fleet Foxes coupled with the roaring nobility of The National.

The cinematic essence mentioned earlier prevailed heavily during ‘Black Tables’, which saw delicate rasping vocals wrapping themselves around brooding instrumental layers. Said song and indeed the whole set could readily be used to soundtrack a poignant or pivitol moment in a lovelorn scene on the big screen.

As an audience we’re transfixed by Other Lives' tales of leaving things behind, their tentative honesty and prophecy. Equally, all five members seem immersed and engrossed with crowd interaction kept to a minimum. Usually I denunciate a band for appearing disengaged with a crowd but in this instance it was a good detachment, allowing their explicit passion for their songs and instruments to shine through.

Talking of instruments; Other Lives have a musical prowess to match no other. A multitude of instruments including clarinet, trumpet, piano, violin and various percussion featured throughout the night, with each member dexterously multitasking. The differing sounds giving a rich intensity , fluid and dreamy. Title track ‘Tamer Animals’ with its growling swirls, surging upwards and beyond, transporting us somewhere other than the somewhat humble surroundings of the SU, all the while Tabish ironically singing “Do you hear the silence? I was far too late”.

The evocative ‘Paper Cities’ is their parting gift, and what a gift it is. Organic and tenderly crafted, encompassing everything that Other Lives are about. 

A sumptuous band that fill you with majesty and euphoria and at times haunt you to your very core with swelling strings and transportive imagery. A band that instantly make you feel better about life and sooth your troubles away.

It wasn’t so much a gig but a journey. A beautiful journey.

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