24 February 2008 (gig)
30 January 2008
Sometimes you stumble across something so good that you want to share it, with everyone. An amazing voice, pitch perfectly clear, support act Charlene Soraia is fantastic. Wonderfully innovative guitar with a light hearted, relaxed delivery of lyric, these tunes will lift you to somewhere better. The set was pure joy.
Tonights headline act, Tina Dico, is supporting the release of her new album Count to Ten with UK wide gigs in February and March. The venues she has on her agenda are small and intimate. She is still building a following here, whereas in her native Denmark she is selling out much larger stages. Her voice will be recognised by Zero 7 fans from their collaborations on the When it Falls record. Dico has produced the Count to Ten album herself with the help of her friend Dennis Ahlgren. This self sufficiency is a common trait in the Dane. In 2000, at the age of 23, she walked into a bank with her father and asked for a loan to set up her own record label. She used this platform to release her first offerings.
Count to Ten is her fourth album and as with her previous records, it tells of real life stories. The songs are lyric driven, they seem to bring counsel to her life, a vehicle for her to reflect and interpret what surrounds her. This small venue suited the acoustic set her and her guitar gave, different again to the full band gigs she performs at home. Comfortable with the crowd, requests were requested and the audience contributed the backing vocals for the headline track. The songs are getting known. There will be one song that will hit home for you from her catalogue. Whether it be the loneliness of randomness or the dynamics of a relationship, something will stick and she’ll translate a part of your life for you. This is what makes the music a pleasure and sets the parallels with other heart on sleeve writers such as Tracy Chapman. The difficulty for her at the moment is the plethora of excellent female singer song writers, of which she is one. Her voice is excellent, her guitar playing beautifully supports her melodies, but it is her lyrics where she makes her mark. My advice is for you to have a listen and take in the words.
