Mr Hudson, ICA, London, June 10th
Mr Hudson played the ICA in London on June 10th
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Monday, 15, Jun 2009 06:01
Lewis Bazley finds Kanye's protégé is up for the challenge at an intimate London show.
Rising Brixton star MPHO's contribution shouldn't be ignored on a night when the audience crammed on to buses or walked in the evening sun to reach the ICA thanks to the tube strike. With the attitude of Lady Sovereign, the pipes of Kelly Rowland and a pop sensibility that sees her taking on Santogold-esque swaggering hip-pop and a surprising and touching take on Kate Bush's Running Up that Hill, she's clearly one to watch. Which you can do here
It's Ben Hudson's night, however, with the Oxford graduate showing no signs of faltering as mentor Kanye West claims he could be the biggest star in the world, but thriving in developing his witty, wordy alt-pop into slick chart smashes.
His sound has changed and Kanye's influence is evident with tribal beats and Autotune added, but Hudson's oeuvre remains grounded in real life. While upcoming smash Supernova is packed with singalong potential, it's the affectionate older cuts such as Up On the Heath, One Specific Thing and Ask the DJ that elicit the biggest response from a small ICA crowd who see themselves in Hudson's intimate tales of young love and loss.
Mr Hudson's ICA performance of Supernova
Mr Hudson - Supernova - ICA London from Roy Thomas on Vimeo.
Though the conversational feel of his first album - when accompanied by the Library, whose steel-pan drumming vocalist Joy Joseph remains - saw Hudson unfairly lumped in with the likes of Jamie T, he's not ignored the tenderness of his old material as he prepares to go stratospheric. There Will Be Tears smacks of a Warp-produced heartbreak ballad while White Lies slips lyrics of mistrust and fear into its party-banger beat.
He returns to the old favourites for the close, strolling around the ICA's moshpit-of-sorts as some Essex girl friends of Joseph's scrabble for a grab of his shirt, and it's appropriate that he feels like taking off now that he's championed by West - the big time awaits.
Lewis Bazley
Mr Hudson's ICA performance of Too Late, Too Late
Mr Hudson - Too Late Too Late - ICA London from Roy Thomas on Vimeo.