WOOM & TOM OSCAR MOORE

Norfolk native TOM OSCAR MOORE has been gigging around the UK and Europe folk circuit for fifteen or so years but I am told has only recently started performing his own compositions. Tonight’s instrumental set mixes self-penned songs with tunes from the trad folk songbook. Moore live loops his own guitar and fiddle playing to create a fuller sound than might be expected. The fiddle is suitably droney whilst his guitar playing is clearly rooted in folk but given a bluesy, almost grungey, tone. It is not the most fluid, polished or confident of performances but strong musicianship, strong songs and warm, engaging between song chat make for a good set that receives possibly the most enthusiastic response for a support that I have witnessed from a seated crowd at NAC.

Recently reduced from a quartet to a trio of Alice Barlow, Isobel Risk and Lara Laeverenz, WOOM’s set tonight is simply gorgeous. All have excellent voices but the three-part harmonies are stunning. In contemporary, popular music, I often find melismatic vocal runs distracting and trying too hard. Woom, however, employ them in the service of the song. Beneath the complex vocal arrangements, the musical accompaniment is relatively simple, consisting of a single guitar and some electronics.

Finding comparisons is not straightforward. My notes refer to Rachel Unthank, Becky Unthank and Niopha Keegan’s a capella show in Norwich back in 2019. That said, to my ears at least, Woom’s vocals are smoother, less gritty and more classic pop or gospel than folk. There is also an otherworldly feel that somehow brings to mind Lisa Gerrard’s work with the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices despite sounding very unlike BooCheeMish. However one tries to categorise Woom, tonight’s set is lapped up by a truly appreciative audience.