Later… with Jools Holland, the UK’s only decent music show, had a typically diverse lineup last-night, with performances from The National, Khalid, Jessie Ware, Queens of the Stone Age, country musician Marty Stuart, and that guy who used to be in The Smiths. There were some good performances! Let’s watch them.
The National’s latest album, Sleep Well Beast, was a seductively gloomy piece of grown-up angst-rock; they’re are near-flawless live act fronted by a charismatic and handsome dude. They are as dependable as a late-night musical guest can get. They played “Day I Die” and “The System Only Sleeps in Total Darkness” and both worked nicely.
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Khalid’s performance of “Young, Dumb, and Broke” never quite settled down, his voice jumping around over a new, fuller arrangement from his band. He was trying to do too much, which is understandable from a 19-year-old kid trying to prove himself, but frustrating when you know how good he is chilling out with little more than an acoustic guitar.
Jessie Ware’s performance was the polar opposite: assured, dextrous, understated. “Midnight” increasingly sounds like a mid-90s soul-pop hit—the kind of song that could soundtrack a sexy jewel heist movie—and it’s rich territory for Ware’s powerful and dextrous vocals.
Josh Homme and Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age performed a stripped down version of their Villains song “Villains of Circumstance,” guitarless and backed by a string quintet. Homme always has the cool-yet-seedy demeanour of a dude crushing it at karaoke in a beat-up bar in a rough part of town. This was a good place for him to showcase that.
Also guy from The Smiths sung some shit off his new album.
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