'90s synthpop icon Xan Tyler still visceral and haunting
Former Technique singer Xan Tyler returned to London for two sold-out shows at the Green Note in Camden and proved why she is still a fascinating and visceral artist...
Its been a while since Xan Tyler disappeared from London to the space and open vistas of the sometimes bonnie Scotland. In her wake, she left Timo Maas, Martin Buttrich, Kramar, Owen Morris (the producer of Oasis' iconic first three albums) and Stephen Hague - who worked with New Order, Public Image Ltd, Jimmy Sommerville, Peter Gabriel and more.
Xan came to prominence in the '90s as one half of synthpop group Technique with Katie Holmes - the wife of Creation Records boss Alan McGee, the man who discovered Oasis - and together they toured the world.
She comes back to London - the Green Note in Camden Town - with the confidence that comes from decades making music and a collection of songs from her latest album 'Holding Up Half The Sky'. Her band features Adam Scott on a Fender acoustic bass and John Rooney, not scared to play lead, on guitar. No-one is messing around. There is a hard edged competence under the friendly veneer.
Both Xan's shows at the venue are sold out. When she cuts into 'Freaks' she lets the audience know the song is for them. Its an affectionate acknowledgement of the camaraderie of those whose lives have washed out less than conventional, for those on whom the bruises of life's trauma are visible. You don't know that this woman's first band was Death Bang Party. Think about it.
Warming up, Xan introduces Joyce and Joan - a portrait of women who lived and loved and were welcomed everywhere in that time when we did not need to know who slept with whom and who did what sort of sex. And it was a homage to the only thing that matters - love.
This is all done with a voice that has a clean ethereal clarity. It has the level to be the white voice to the reggae of the Mad Professor, to share a track with Lee Scratch Perry. You don't know how good it is. It is peerless.
On 'Blood Orange Blossom', Xan is celebrating the courage of a woman who photographed Mafia assassinations. A woman who faced down embedded power structures with her art. You can see the connection.
Then there is 'Vicky'. A song about the voice inside that sabotages and tells you that you are not good enough. Even those with the most talent suffer this ghostly internal dialogue. Or do they? Maybe 'Vicky' is a real someone, somewhere.
Xan heads back to Scotland and something is left hanging in the air over the streets of Camden Town, always a space for music and musicians. It is the question for Xan, what is next ?
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