KALANDRA
VENUE LAFAYETTE, LONDON DATE 21/09/2024 SUPPORT LILI REFRAIN
A double bill of shamanic prog is here to bewitch a sold-out Lafayette. Opening is avant-garde priestess Lili Refrain, who dons thick robes and face paint. Her vocals are just as “Nordic folk” as her appearance, and her voice fills the venue with melodies akin to those of Wardruna, Heilung and Skáld. Everything else onstage, however, is pure modernday prog. Refrain uses synths, electric guitars, drums and looper stations to build stacked dark rock hymns. They’re slow-burning immersive pieces that frequently reduce the audience to a reverent silence. That spell only breaks between songs, when Refrain giddily explains how loopers work for far too long. It’s a speech completely at odds with the mysterious, hypnotic persona she presents when she’s actually playing.