George Ward
Freelance journalist and online editor for CLUNK. Can be found out and about in Bristol, finding cheap records or having a pint on King Street.
With support from Tyler Cryde and Bert Ussher, Skydaddy brought his full band to The Louisiana to celebrate their new EP
After 2024’s ‘Pilot’ and last month’s ‘Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles,’ Skydaddy now has two extremely solid EPs under his belt and is quickly building a name for himself. Following our interview with him last year, we headed to Bristol’s Louisiana to see the project come to life with a full band.
The first support of the evening came from Tyler Cryde, the solo project of Black Country, New Road’s bassist and vocalist Tyler Hyde. Hyde’s set was stripped back, raw and beautiful. Accompanied only by her acoustic guitar or a keyboard/organ, the tracks were all unreleased but the songwriting familiar. Hyde’s solo work shares the honest folk elements of BC,NR’s recent material, but, without the grandeur and complexity of so many instruments, the result was far more intimate, personal and fragile. I can’t wait to see these songs crop up again on a record, in whatever shape that may take.
With the energy and number of musicians satisfyingly increasing throughout the night, Bert Ussher was up next, with his laid back and folky indie pop. Playing tracks from his 2024 EP ‘The Longest Swim,’ the set was sweet and simple, highlighting Ussher’s gentle but catchy songwriting.
Although Rachid Fakhre isn’t new to the game, with his previous duo Spang Sisters having released two albums in the last few years, Skydaddy is a relatively new project. It may surprise you then, just how good Fakhre’s band sound together live. The band play are equally as tight as they are laid back, playing together as if they have been for years. With Hyde herself on keys and clarinet, alongside others on flute, drums, bass and guitar, the sound was lush and whole.
Fakhre told the crowd that he used to live in Bristol and we even got a shout out on ‘Albert Bridge’: “Standing on the edge / Of the Clifton Suspension Bridge”. With backing vocals from the whole band, the track came to life in all its dreaminess.
On ‘Tear Gas’, Fakhre and Hyde both stepped up to perform as a duet. It is a fragile, gorgeous song, and the crowd treated it with the quiet and respect that it deserved. Alongside tracks from the two EPs, we were treated to some new tracks too, making us very excited for a possible future album.
As well as quiet moments like this, the band came together for huge build ups too, most notably on the excellent ‘Age Of Empires’. This track’s build up is incredibly satisfying, with the band’s sound growing and growing until everything is pulled out from under us at the last minute. On both the EP and in person, this one is the highlight.
Read our interview with Skydaddy here.
Listen to ‘Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles‘:
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