LIVE IN CONCERT: SOUL ARTIST ELIZA OAKES @ ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
Courtesy of Lorena Cristea
By Lorena Cristea
London, King’s Cross St. Pancras – Inside the medieval and modest architecture of the St Pancras Old Church, that borders King’s Cross and Camden Town, young people and family are gathering one by one to support the promising South Londoner, Eliza Oakes. Eliza inspires her songs from musicians with the likes of Jessie Ware and Minnie Riperton, although there is a bit of Florence and the Machine vibe in her orchestration, as one fall recalls. Some might consider that her voice is cleverly shaped, and her jazz-instrumentation is impeccable, with another fan saying: “The main attraction of her is the vocal range she possesses.”
Courtesy of Lorena Cristea
The opening act was Imogen, a London-based singer and songwriter whose genre ranges from Pop to Musical Theatre. As she starts her act, silence has spread in the entire room, while the audience was truly mesmerized hearing her amazing vocal range, accompanied with the piano sound. There is a particular vulnerability in her lyrics that she is not afraid to unveil, as she says: “And we all took pictures of the horizon/I guess to feel something,”. We witness her growth not only as an artist, but as a human being, too. “The moment of silence,” as I would like to put it into words, was present throughout her whole performance, with the help of the confidence, yet softness in her vocal range.
The journey of Imogen, the heartbreak and sorrow, were strongly felt in the track “The dream died with you, boo.” She tales the story of liberation, after feeling trapped in a love story that was making the road towards happiness and freedom more difficult.
Eliza Oakes owns the stage shortly after, starting her performance on a high note. The drums and guitar riffs complete each other with her unique ability to convey stories, lessons in her very own words. I agree that her amazing storytelling has something to do with the immaculate sound engineering that the young artist smartly crafted in the very corner of the small Church, where the stage was placed. Between songs, as she takes a deep breath and regains her energy for more tunes to be sung, she engages with the audience, as we all are a big family in a place where all of us are one and the same: the Church.
Courtesy of Lorena Cristea
Her strong vocal cords come in a distinguished aura, waving as the sea I’d say, soft at first, but it gets progressively tumultuous. Eliza has a radiant energy when on stage, a humble presence, although bathed in applause. Throughout her recital, it’s hard not to get captivated by her soprano and voice inflections. The strength in her voice and how she manages to serenade about love and what it’s above, is something that it can’t be overlooked. There is a moment of reflection that makes us question whether the struggles of our daily lives are worth distracting us from cherishing moments, cherishing our lives.
‘Rare,’ the third song during her performance, starts with a slow piano sound, with Eliza echoing and reminiscing the true nature of love, in her own words: “It’s true/ Your eyes are new, but our love is as old as the ocean”. A free-flowing composition born out of a poem written by her a couple of years ago, ‘Rare’ is a storyline of purity, the never-ending bloom of young love. I would personally compare this particular ensemble with Sufjan Stevens’ discography, as he would often play a bit with different music genres, such as indie and baroque pop.
Courtesy of Lorena Cristea
As the Church bell rings at one point in her concert, I can’t help but wonder if we’re witnesses of Eliza’s baptism as a grown artist and as a storyteller.
The night almost closes with her latest release, ‘Heaven in your eyes’ a song rooted in the perception of vision and hardship, strongly conveyed in the lyrics: “I know there’s trouble on your mind/But we’re in wonder we’re in bloom.”
Eliza Oakes is definitely a promising artist, with a luggage of dreams to accomplish. Her music can be found in platforms such as Spotify, Bandcamp, and YouTube, where she regularly updates her fans on her upcoming releases.