Thursday night welcomed the poignant music work of Laykn to the Northcote Social Club, the last stop on his &Pains EP tour down the East Coast of Australia. He was joined by RnB/Hip Hop artist Charlie Threads who pumped the crowd up before Laykn hit the stage.
Charlie Threads brought an interesting tone to the Laykn tour, providing a burst of energy on the stage. The artist known from his guest spot on Alice Ivy’s “Get Me A Drink” worked the stage hard with his bubbly personality and provided some much needed energy for the early Thursday night. His presence was hard to escape, but he put together an upbeat and promising set that built the energetic foundations of a fun evening.
Charlie’s set wasn’t long, but he was able to inspire a fun atmosphere throughout, with songs like “Head In The Clouds” and “Forever And A Day” and his newest release, “Questions”. With its fiery rap and quick paced accompanying beats, it brought the crowd into the room. By the end of his set, the Northcote was essentially full and Charlie had created a great environment for Lakyn to strut his stuff.
Lakyn’s recent EP &Pain exemplified his emotionalism as an artist, yet this sound was further highlighted during his headline set, with his tender vocals mixing with his heartfelt lyrics. Yet, Laykn was also capable of vocals which held a more jovial tone, using his flexibility as a vocalist to shift the mood in the band room frequently throughout his night.
Opening to the smooth introductory sound of a little jam, Lakyn used the instrumental as a break into the first track, “View Looks So Good”; the low key jazzy number grabbing the attention of the crowd, with Laykn’s smoky vocals showing an early display of his flexible take on different genres. “View Looks So Good” was closely followed by “West”, “Soldier” and “Hold It Down”, an unreleased track, giving the fans a taste of Laykn’s future endeavours. It also brought the mood up following the emotive “Soldier”.
“Sweet Days” and “Slumdog” rounded out the tracks covering Laykn’s EP, leaving a definite impression; both tracks displaying the depth of Lakyn’s lyrical skill and his ability to transform a recorded track in a welcoming and wide open live performance, coupled with vivid guitar solos and some glittering vocals.
The encore was created with a cover in mind, Madonna’s “Like A Prayer”, but the single song wasn’t enough for Laykn, whose energy and raw passion for music created a real connection with the Melbourne crowd at the Northcote Social Club. Lakyn made time for an unplanned cover to close his set – Frank Ocean’s “Self Control” – a track Laykn called one of his favourites. It was a fun number, helping keep the baying crowd happy as Laykn finished a prosperous set that would have won him a lot of fans, while satisfing all those already comfortably in that category.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
To learn more about Laykn, head to his official website. He next plays Whammy Bar in Auckland on November 2nd.
The writer attended the performance at the Northcote Social Club on 4th October.
