There were some interesting options in London tonight. But I decided to save some money and stay local to see Emily Capell at the Horn.

First up was Sad Luv. Looking like a character from Final Fantasy, he had the kind of ‘insipid’ male vocals that are popular with reality TV programmes and Radio 1. Definitely, not music for my 6 Music mentality and some songs just seemed to end suddenly. This kind of voice and music usually isn’t something I like. But you know what? He had decent songs. He has a good image. He seemed a genuine down to earth bloke and playing foot drum and guitar, I enjoyed his set. He has a sound that has an audience and I hope he finds the right festivals and gets a break.

Next up was Joe Slater, with a rasping, dragged over gravel voice. The kind of voice that came out of working men’s clubs in the 60s and 70s. It was an enjoyable enough set.

Lastly was Emily Capell. I’m not sure if I listened to the wrong person beforehand, but the song I heard seemed a bit country influenced. This was more 50s/60s doo-wop inspired indie.

Let’s just say I didn’t click with the music. I’m not sure why. I just felt everything was slightly wrong. The flow of the music, didn’t. It was played well, but it didn’t flow. I once saw a jazz piece played by an orchestra and it was note perfect. But it wasn’t jazz. It was too perfect. This felt the same. It was doo-wop, but wasn’t.

I guess part of it was Emily herself. Most of the time she wasn’t singing, it was more spoken lyrics and when she did sing, it didn’t seem to be the right voice for the music. It just meant for me, the music didn’t flow as at times the vocals and music seemed to fight each other, often with vocals squashed in to fit the music.

It’s a real pity it didn’t work. They seemed like a nice bunch. Emily was engaging and didn’t seem to take herself seriously. At one point near the end, Emily said something like, ‘In my head I think we are the Supremes up here’ and I thought with that comment, she managed to hit the nail on the head. I think my problem was I was judging the performance on my idea of that style of music and not giving Emily and her band the credit for creating their own modern twist on the sound.