Kelly Lee Owens @ SWG3, Glasgow, 7 Mar
The multi-hyphenate talents of Welsh producer-DJ-musician Kelly Lee Owens are in sharp focus tonight, as she takes us to her dreamstate
Flanked by two mixing desks and synths, and a microphone to her front, Kelly Lee Owens cuts a lone silhouette on stage tonight. Yet through sheer stagecraft and energy alone, she transforms this set-up into multiple worlds.
There’s Owens, mixing tracks, throwing her body from side to side. Vocal-heavy tracks see her face us, synths now a backdrop for her haunting vocals (“Let’s get into some Celtic melancholic shit,” she banters midway through the set). Then there’s Owens stalking up and down the stage’s edge, space dissolving between her and the crowd, the floor transformed into an endless utopian rave.
Tonight the Welsh producer-DJ-musician’s multi-hyphenate talents are in sharp focus. Dreamstate, her fourth album, aims to channel an “incredible feeling of freedom and escapism”; with lights aglow, visuals flashing, bass thumping, we’re taken there. Starting off on a high with the titular track, Owens weaves a feeling of optimism through her set (the word ‘EUPHORIA’ flashing on the screen behind her at points to underline this) that only grows. She introduces fresh mixes on-stage often, infusing new dimensions into her catalogue, and expertly playing to the energy of the crowd.
On the back of her most vocal-heavy release to date, there's new opportunities for Owens to play with vocal in her live show, and this is interspersed through tracks to great effect. Halfway through, there’s a ballad moment which, while affecting in its own right, feels somewhat abrupt in its change of pace. In some ways, perhaps this is reflective of a concert set-up which allows each track space and room to breathe, compared to a DJ set without pause. Nevertheless, the intensity is turned up to the maximum for the second half, stacked back to back with some of Owens' most iconic tracks. The ecstasy of Sunshine lifting us higher follows the intensity of Melt!, and it’s siimply fun experiencing Owens' drops getting more and more intense, even borderline anarchic.
But the dreamstate isn’t just mere escapism for Owens, as she takes to the mic and encourages us both to follow our own dreams, and support live music venues. Channelling this genuine optimistic sentiment, the music at tonight’s close reaches an impossibly high crescendo, building up anticipation for a drop that never comes: leaving us feeling limitless.