Squirrel Flower @ The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, 19 Jul

Being in a packed out (and sweaty) room at Glasgow’s Glad Cafe for Squirrel Flower on a Friday night isn’t the party you might expect...

Live Review by Alisa Wylie | 22 Jul 2024
  • Squirrel Flower

There’s no frills at this party with its self-described “witch rock” act at the helm. Saying this, there is something a bit bewitching about Ella O’Connor Williams, who performs under the moniker of Squirrel Flower, but it’s hard to put a finger on it. When she takes to the mic, she seems to have everyone in the room under her spell. She opens with the melancholic Full Time Job, rendering the crowd silent and engrossed. When the song kicks in with a thrashing of guitars and a deep bass tone during the second verse, it feels almost anthemic. 

During the portions of the night when Williams plays solo, her backing band are very still, going so far as closing their eyes when she plays. Either they are immersing themselves in the moment, or taking a couple of minutes to pause and just listen and let her shine. Early in the set she announces that the next song is a love song, and lulls us into Almost Pulled Away, the fourth track from her most recent release, Tomorrow’s Fire. While it might not be what you’d expect from a love song, the morose and brooding sound is a respite. At one point, in a faux Scottish accent, Williams asks the crowd where she can get a “tattie scone”, and when someone replies “my house”, there's a smattering of laughter. 

But the evening on the whole evening is a subdued affair, to say the least. While the band sounds sonically good, there isn’t a particular sense of unity within the four musicians on stage, with the feeling that her backing band are there more to act as an enhancer for Williams as opposed to being part of a collaborative unit. But overall, it is enchanting as she croons alongside the hum of their slow, piercing instrumentals.

To close out the show, Tomorrow's Fire's closer Finally Rain is played solo. Littered with words sung in threes, each one bears weight that is more of a sucker-punch than the last. And with a war cry to finish the evening, Williams breathtakingly belts out 'My love, my love, my love'.

http://squirrelflower.net