Anyone who has had their heart broken at least once will understand the mix of both anger and sadness that it brings. On her debut album, Kyla La Grange battles with both feelings, singing with all the power and fierceness of a woman scorned, mixed with the fragility and honesty of someone pained. Nothing is by halves, and in the world of 'Ashes', love is a matter of life and death.
Tonight Kyla brings
her dark melodrama to Edge Hill's Rose Theatre, and as she takes the stage
dressed all in black she has an allure and mystery surrounding her that is
difficult to pinpoint, making Kyla herself intriguing and intense to watch.
With a voice both strange and beautiful, she harnesses all the power of her
lungs on opening track 'Walk Through
Walls', a song that seems to suffer from poor production on record but
translates live to a huge, enchanting, multi-layered track that sounds bigger
than the amphitheatre it's being performed in. A hypnotic guitar riff brings us
into most recent single 'Been Better'
as Kyla confidently takes control over a past lover, belting 'I took the lead instead of being lead'.
But it's through the stripped back songs that Kyla really
shines.The lights are plunged into
darkness, leaving only a spotlight and a few scattered fairy lights as she
breaks into the haunting 'To Be Torn'.
Led only by a slow piano, every tremble and ounce of honesty can be heard in
her voice as she stuns the room into silence. ‘I’m sorry that I failed’ she
pleads with desperation and a lump in her throat, as the confident powerhouse
from before appears now as a small, lone figure on the stage. A moving and mournful moment before Kyla picks up her
acoustic guitar to finish on ‘Vampire
Smile'. Although at times the album can feel claustophobic and despite the fact there is nothing overly ground-breaking to find, it’s
obvious that Kyla has clear talent and interesting potential, ultimately making for
a curious live act that will no doubt be one to watch for the future.
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