SJD
1st July 2023
Meow, Wellington, New Zealand.
Review by Tim Gruar. Photography by Maeve O’Connell.
Ah, it’s great to see indie electro-head and master knob twiddler Sean James Donnelly back on the Capital’s stage. The last time, for me, at least, was when he performed with Shazza and Neil in the Finn whanau’s Pyjama Club project – so, a long time between drinks.
Released back in October last year, ‘Sweetheart’ is SJD’s ninth album. He’s been prolific, it’s fair to say. A quiet over achiever and one of our most lauded songwriters, winning two Aotearoa Music Awards, the Taite Music Prize (‘Elastic Wasteland’, 2013), and made the shortlist for the APRA Silver Scroll for his Beautiful Haze (2017).
But he’s way more than just a pop star, composing for film and TV, making experimental acoustics, electronic music, videos, and is currently hunkering down in Dunedin as the Mozart Fellowship at Otago University.
As a body of work, the new album is a bold statement of conflicting thoughts – isolation, loneliness, and depression. It also has a cast of many players, with contributions from Tami Neilson, Don McGlashan, James Milne (Lawrence Arabia), Anika Moa, Julia Deans, Deryk, EJ Barnes, Sandy Mill, Peau Halapua and Chris O’Connor (The Phoenix Foundation). All helping to create multi layered kaleidoscopic viewpoints and embracing every musical style from deep soul-pop ballads to psychedelic electronica, ethereal ‘night grooves’, rustic and down-home folk, and plenty of his long-term trademark cinematic arrangements. We saw a few of these peeps on stage tonight – though sadly not Neilson, Moa or McGlashan, the intricacies of making sure so many great musicians can be in the same place at the same time a very understandable hurdle.
Given all that, I was particularly keen to see how the collaborative nature of SJD’s projects would translate to the stage. But before kicking off, Te-Whanganui-a-Tara’s Wiri Donna fronted up to whet our whistles. Being prolific local performers, they were right at home at Meow. The bar’s practically their living room and like them tonight’s crowd were also totally comfortable in their company.
The four piece is the project of Bianca Bailey, whose debut record ‘Being Alone’ dropped last year. Since then, it’s been toured and touted up and down the Motu and even made the top three finalists for the Best Independent Debut Award at this year’s Taite Music Prize ceremony (eventually taken out by the fabulous TE KAAHU – Te Kaahu O Rangi, also worthy!). They even opened for Fontaines DC recently. Things are on the up!
I was expecting tracks from the e.p. but only the jangly single ‘No Follow Through’ make tonight’s cut. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised when the set list contained mainly new songs, all road-tested and ready for recording next week at Wellington’s Surgery Studios in Newtown. ‘Hell or Highwater’ has a dark and heavy bass groove, and a slightly sinister undercurrent. That was juxtaposed by the more upbeat indie-pop of ‘Sink’ and the equally spritely ‘Stop Charades’. But then the vibe turns ‘nasty- bitchy’ when Bailey wails like a possessed one during the 90’s grunge-groove of ‘In My Chambers’. This one has the biggest bang for buck and might well be the single that steals the show. Although that honour, tonight at least, was left to Elliot Dawson’s 60’s garage/psychedelic guitar jam, which rounded off their final track ‘Gold’.
With that it was time for a quick puff and a refill before the man and his five-piece band took control. They might be giants – older and somehow taller against the library shelves of Meow’s feature walls. The set kicks off with an “oldie or two”, as Donnelly calls them – an atmospheric version of ‘Superman, You’re Crying’ (from Southern Lights, 2004) and a blippy-boppy rendition of ‘Bad Karma In Yokohama’.
Then guitarist James Duncan had a ‘mare-moment’ when his foot pedal decided to play feedback-hell-buzz’. “Take your time,” Donnelly quipped adopting a grade school teacher’s voice, “We can all wait – up to an hour if we need to…”
Fortunately, that was unnecessary and the show continued with SJD’s beautifully mournful ode to ‘Helensville’ and a dinky-dye, yet playful, take on ‘I Wanna Be Foolish’. This song is particularly buoyant, helped along by Chris O’Connor playing a child’s xylophone instead of his drum kit.
Actually, I’d half expected Donnelly to be in charge of the keyboards and other electro toys but instead he had delegated that duty mainly to Claire Cowan and just strummed away on his acoustic, instead (with the exception of a cameo on his own keyboards during one song later in the set). Although O’Connor was left in charge of the laptop, apparently the 6th member of the band. “We call it Ableton Live!” Donnelly waits for acknowledgement. And gets none. He sighs. “It’s a computer programme, people. I bet on 2% of you knew that!”
And he’d be right. Most of the audience were X-generation parents, allowed out for date night. The 2% was probably the sprinkling of local musos like Luke Buda and Ebony Lamb, who’d all come to see the master at work. I mean, why wouldn’t you?
The rest of the set has gems from the new album – the reason we were here, after all – like the intensely, yet lush ‘I just Can’t Wait’. The blip-blip backing track on this one takes me right back to dicking around on a Casiotone during lunch hours in my 4th Form home room.
Percussionist and backing singer, Sandy Mill gets her moment in the spotlight taking up Tami Neilson’s soulful solo on ‘My Exploding Head’. She does well, I grant you, but can’t possibly live up to the Tami-power on the recorded version. No one could ever match that!
The new single ‘You Are The Movement’ gets an airing, and the floor moves a little as every shoulder rises and drops politely in time with the beats.
We have a “tender moment”, according to Donnelly, with ‘Two Bodies’ from ‘07’s fabulous ‘Songs From A Dictaphone’ album. One of my all-time favs – an utter gorgeous moment, and just a few goosebumps. Surely someone played this song at their wedding?
Time for a sing-a-long with a re-worked, old-timey spiritual, called ‘Waterhole’, and O’Connor leads the crowd on this one conducting the room like a mass choir. I love this track. Its witty, unexpected lyrics are just so playful. I mean, who can get away with a line like “Me and My Friend went down to get a Gas Station Pie”?
That song is bookended by ‘Jesus’, which is a real spiritual, amped up by the band and especially Duncan’s crazed psychedelic guitar solo ending.
There’s a few more from the back catalogue, rounding off with a blistering mind-groove wig out on ‘I Am The Radio’, helped by Mill’s vocal prowess and Cowan’s clever keys.
A quick departure and encore return with ‘I wrote This Song For You’ and, of course ‘Beautiful Haze’. Even if you knew nothing about SJD, surely you recall the blippy intro from a well know TV commercial? I noticed that ‘Let Me Go Home’ was on the set list but we never got to hear that one. So, slightly short-changed there. Oh, well.
Naturally, the band Sean has chosen are top-class and they effortlessly brought every one of the SJD bedroom studio visions to life as if they were meant to be this way. And that really made the gig tonight.
Donnelly has a wonderfully shy and endearingly awkward banter, joking like a nervous uncle who’s been asked to compère a wedding at short notice when the real host has come down with food poisoning from last night’s stag do. At one point he asked us to all “throw shapes and go wild. Then I’ll release you back into the Wellington streets to go do interesting things.” More likely, given the average age of those attending, most were wondering if there was enough cash left for the baby sitter and the farmers market in the morning. But jokes aside, everyone was enjoying themselves, singing along – or at least humming a half-remembered line or two. SJD CDs have been in most collections for ages, right next to the Crowded House and Radiohead. So, it’s no surprise how beloved he is in these parts. Even if our polite clapping doesn’t come across that way.
All-in-all a great night out and well over due for Mr Donnelly, et al. We loved having you, SJD, in our cool little Capital. Please come back soon. ‘Nuff said. Make sure you turn out the lights when you leave…. click!
SJD:
Wiri Donna:
Were you there at Meow for this magnificent Kiwi Pop gig? Or have you seen SJD perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
SJD Setlist:
- Superman Is Crying
- Bad Karma In Yokohama
- Helensville
- I Wanna Be Foolish
- Southern Lights
- I Can’t Wait
- My Exploding Head
- You Are The Movement
- Two Bodies
- Waterhole
- Jesus
- Baby You’re So, Oh
- I Wrote This Song For You [encore]
- Beautiful Haze [encore]
Wiri Donna Setlist:
- No Follow Through
- Hell or Highwater
- Sink
- Stop Charades
- In My Chambers
- The Gold
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to photograph and review this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.
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