Live – Penelope Isles + CIEL + ITCHY KID at Chalk Brighton

Penelope Isles / CIEL / ITCHY KID, Chalk Brighton, 11th December 2019

A significant night for Penelope Isles – their 100th show of the year, their biggest headline set to date and a hometown crowd full of love and support. Having established themselves playing smaller venues, the transition to a bigger stage was seamless and showcased exactly how far the band has come. Songs from their debut album Until the Tide Creeps In sounded smooth and accomplished (Leipzig a stand out track), their brand of jangly dream pop creating the warmest singalong, feel-good atmosphere from an audience packed into a sold out Chalk. Their performance was treated to a suitably psyched colourful backdrop from visual artist Innerstrings. A fitting addition to the Bella Union family, there is something reminiscent here of that swirling chasm of beautiful music that was Cocteau Twins. Penelope Isles have clearly worked hard to achieve what they have so far and, if Wednesday night was any indicator for the future, they’ll be going much, much further.

Support on the night came from CIEL, another outfit making waves on the local scene with softly delivered vocals over a dash of shoegaze and worth catching on future dates if you have the chance. A late inclusion on the bill, ITCHY KID provided a 5 minute introductory slot before Penelope Isles’ set with some spoken word – a fairly daunting prospect for a new act in front of so many people you would assume but well received. The idea left me thinking that this is actually a great way to offer an artist exposure and create interest without them needing half an hour’s worth of rehearsed material; it certainly did the trick here.

Check out all three artists via the links below once you’ve had a browse through our gallery here…

CIEL