An undeniable star, Acantha Lang brings heaps of soul, charisma, and danger

–

Cool, enigmatic, and clad in red, Acantha Lang delivered her second sold-out show at the Pizza Express Jazz Club last night. A buzzy addition to the London soul circuit, Lang was raised in New Orleans before moving to New York City to pursue music. She was the first ever woman to take on the position of MC at the infamous cabaret nightclub The Box, in both its New York and London branches.

Her audience last night were treated to two tight, unfaltering sets without a weak or lacklustre song in the mix. Her voice – flaky and raspy, but capable of power and sting – never smacks of over-calculation, and she is an intuitive storyteller. Though charming and warm, she brings danger and feverish tension to the stage.

The set was largely comprised of Lang’s original material, a gumbo of blues, soul, funk, and rock which often sat deep in the pocket. She began with ‘9th Ward’, a swaggering and moody ode to New Orleans. ‘Eventually’, a stripped-back meditation on Lang’s journey for love, exposed the nuances and hitches in her voice, with sensitive guitar work from Emelyn Francis. ‘Come Back Home’, Lang’s forgiving message to her estranged father, had an anthemic pulse buoyed by the horns.

She has a knack for crafting an uplifting lyric without descending into schmaltz, hitting a fervent, aspirational tone with ‘Ride This Train’ and ‘River Keep Running’ from the second set.

Kudos also to an imaginative selection of covers, including Candi Staton’s ‘I’d Rather Be An Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than A Young Man’s Fool)’, Millie Jackson’s ‘It Hurts So Good’, and a gospel-fused take on Bob Dylan’s ‘I Shall Be Released’ (in Nina Simone’s vein). To this writer’s utter delight, Lang also surfed along a funkified rendition of Aretha Franklin’s ‘The House That Jack Built’.

Perhaps my favourite performance was Lang’s penultimate song ‘He Said/She Said’, a blistering attack on ‘fake news’ and intellectual laziness with a driving rhythm and punchy vocals.

The Full Band

Emlyn Francis (guitar)
Neil Raymond (bass)
Andy Noble (keys)
Mike Horne (drums)
Ricky Mian (sax)
David Mian (trumpet)
Cece Diamond & Ruth Whyte (backing vocals)

(Image taken from Acantha Lang’s website)