Monday night saw an excitable Leeds audience bear witness to Neneh Cherry as she kicked off her UK Broken Politics tour to a sold out Stylus.
‘Broken Politics’ is Neneh’s fifth studio album and the second consecutive body of work to be produced by Kieran Hebden of Four Tet, following 2014’s Blank Project. The widely anticipated album has already been met with critical acclaim since its release in October 2018, picking up rave reviews from across the musical landscape, from the likes of Pitchfork, right through to The Guardian.
The Swedish artist and mother to three, including 2019 British Breakthrough artist nominee Mabel, has a legacy that outshines even the most talented musical mamma’s.
The multitalented Swedish icon and stalwart sweetheart of British music lovers since her involvement in post-punk outfits such as Rip, Rig & Panic and the Slits, can be seen in the adoration of every audience member transfixed by Neneh’s infectious energy, and the glowing honesty in her musical life lesson narrative.
Greentea Peng
The show opened with the formidable Greentea Peng (real name Aria) as support; a 24 year old soul songstress from South London who charmed the ears of the adoring crowd.
Greentea Peng possesses a wisdom beyond her tender years and delivered in abundance for her project, which is often dubbed online as ‘mind expanding R&B’.
Aria flits with ease from the depths of dub to soul, echoing inflections of Badu, Lauryn Hill to Wendy Rene and Althea & Donna, whilst still inherently owning a sound that is truly of her own making.
Greentea Peng took the audience on an audio soundscape through key tracks from her debut ep ‘Sensi’, released last year. Each track is a gorgeous sensory assault, with ‘Moon child’, ‘Used to’ and ‘Medicine’ in particular, which were met with much praise from the Leeds crowd as she interspersed her delivery with her lovable wit and infectious steez. She even managed to fit in time to debut a new track, ‘Mr Sun’, direct to a live audience for the very first time, having penned the track only the week before the tour – a perfect opener for the legendary Neneh Cherry, a definitive one to watch and a must-see whilst sipping on your scrumpy at many of the festivals she will no doubt be booked for this year.
Neneh Cherry
Our eagerly anticipated headliner opened with ‘Fallen Leaves’ and the sublimely hypnotic arousal of that haunting Harp intro, setting the scene for what was clearly going to be a heart on sleeve performance of perhaps her most punishing and emotive work to date. ‘Broken Politics’ is an eclectic smorgasbord of scattered personal and political tales of torture, with the live show only enhancing what can be felt across the rhythm of the record.
‘Shot Gun Shack’ was cut midway as Neneh greeted the crowd and asked the band to stop and start over – ‘’If we’re going to do it, let’s f*cking do it right’’. Naturally a perfectionist, Neneh apologised profusely for not ‘nailing it’ and took full responsibility, blaming it on her inability to ‘store so much info in her age-old brain’ but the second time around the track was delivered with mere perfection and as each album track rose and fell with crescendo like energy, everyone in the room was suddenly aware that they were witnessing something truly special.
‘Deep vein thrombosis’, transports an almost spoken word element to Neenah’s delivery over the carefully curated percussive traits of the track, echoing her unique and honest approach to storytelling.
Natural Skin Deep delivered an organic climax to the show and is undoubtedly an anthemic belter akin to the halcyon days of Massive Attack greatness, only amplified further by Neneh’s stage presence and the penetrating light show that perfectly echoes each band member, whilst highlighting Neneh in all her magical glory. The video for Natural Skin Deep has just been released, where Neneh worked with Moving image artist and filmmaker, Akinola Davies Jr (http://www.crackstevens.com/) and the video itself was filmed in Beirut. Akinola explores themes of race, identity, gender and inclusion, a perfect partner for the project and someone Neneh had cited to work with as soon as she possibly could.
Themes that surround the album include political and social threads that sit seamlessly alongside Neneh’s own diary style messages of love and orders to love, from ‘Black Monday’, an account of a pro-life march in Poland, the refugee crisis in Calais on ‘Kong’ (a collaboration with Massive Attack’s 3D), to ‘Gun Shot shack’ which poetically melds themes of gun violence. It’s clear to see that Neneh wants to have a conversation throughout Broken Politics, from the delivery of the album live, to the artists she chooses to work with in order to amplify the key album themes she wants to shout about. The artwork for the album is by Turner Prize winner Wolfgang Tillmans.
Despite delivering an incredible live experience of the album, Neneh – never one to shy away from nostalgia – also delivered classic’s such as; ‘Man Child’, ‘7 Seconds’ and ‘Buffalo Stance’ to a roaring Leeds crowd.
Renowned for her unique hybrid mix of styles and genres that seemingly fit her expansive career, which includes collaborations with the likes of Massive Attack, Four Tet and Youssou N’Dour to name but a few, the Broken Politics tour is a real insight into Neneh as an artist, with a wealth of war stories in which she shares an open and brutal conversation directly with the audience throughout the duration.
Despite venue size, it does feel like you could almost be anywhere, having a one on one with a real deal, one of a kind, perhaps even in your own living room. With shows for the rest of the tour now sold out, I’m sure she will grace the stage of many festivals dotted throughout the year. Just be sure to go!
Main image by Mark Wheelright (markwheelwright.co.uk)