As we sat down for a pint after Art School Girlfriend’s set at Gorilla, my friend turned to me and said they were surprised by how much I enjoyed the artist we’d just been watching. I have a reputation for not liking dance music, and the set we’d just seen was definitely that. With pulsing, club-friendly, electronic soundscapes underpinning Polly Louise Mackey’s hushed vocals and lyrics full of longing, loneliness, and love, it was definitely hard not to find yourself moving along to the music throughout.
The truth is, though, that I don’t really think of Art School Girlfriend as a dance act. Having originally caught her at Green Man in 2018, it is true that her sets have always had a thread of electronic instrumentation that sits outside of my normal comfort zone, but I see it as more in line with the likes of The xx, Daughter, and other bands in that vein. Bands I adore. There is so much emotion in, and such a beautiful tone to, Polly’s vocal performance and the stories she tells, that I can’t help but be mesmerised by her music.
The set at Gorilla was definitely the danciest (is that a word?) that I’ve seen her, though. Songs that might have gently meandered along on their album versions were ramped up, long extended outros that had the whole room entranced turning a usually quiet tune into an absolute anthem. This was most clear when Polly returned to her debut album, playing title song ‘Is It Light Where You Are?’ but adding a new, euphoric element to the music that made it fresh and engaging.
Her album Lean In came out just a few weeks ago, and the set was laden with its tracks. Opening with ‘The Peaks’, things started with a smooth entry, warming up the crowd effectively. It was almost as if the setlist was crafted to grow towards a crescendo, and by the time we reached ‘L.Y.A.T.T.’ the mood in the room was clear – smiling faces, swaying hips, and nodding heads were everywhere you looked. Art School Girlfriend had this room in the palm of her hands.
‘Waves’, ‘Doing Laps’, and ‘ Bending Back’ were other standout moments, but the reality of a show like this is that it’s not about the individual moments. An expertly crafted setlist, an artist who knows how to bring a crowd on a journey, and songs that were recognisable alongside the originals but also changed enough to make them feel unique to the live show – all of these ingredients combined to ensure that Art School Girlfriend sounded better than ever.
Words by Fran Slater
Picky Bastards 