On Thursday, Penelope Trappes played a hometown gig at Alphabet, concluding the tour of her latest release A Requiem. The album is a powerful work, perfectly encapsulating the grief that overshadows it’s ten tracks. For the live performance Penelope was joined Klara Schumann on cello and Kat Pihl on keyboards to recreate the imposing visceral sound of the recordings, and Alphabet was probably the best venue in town to do justice to this. There was a strong visual dimension too, with lighting designed by Agnes Haus (which at some points was nothing more than just a handheld industrial lamp) and headwear inspired by the organic form of branches of a tree. The arpeggiated synth lines of one of the albums more electronic moments, Red Dove, provides some light towards the end of the performance, and the night closes serenely with Thou Art Mortal, the last track on the album, with waves of sound washing over us to send us on our way.

Support on the evening came from Zac Clowes and Jonah Wardle, who played and continuous thirty minute cinematic ambient set

A Requiem by Penelope Trappes is out now on One Little Indie: