Cavan Moran + Elle Mary & The Bad Men + Dave Hulston

For Manchester’s Cavan Moran the term ‘troubadour’ is clearly more a way of life than just a convenient Facebook description. The former frontman of Manchester folkies These Eyes Are Cameras, Moran quit that band in order to fulfil a sort of spiritual odyssey across Europe then returning to Manchester to assume his mantle as the city’s next great acoustic cipher. To his credit, though, that finely-wrought back story is neatly reflected in his music, a sort of John Bramwell meets Fionn Regan confection full of romantic yearning, pretty melodies and late night, smoky dive-bar ambience.

Thankfully all this heavy-hearted emoting does not come at the expense of the finer musical details. Listeners have already been struck with the beauty and the subtlety of his arrangements on debut EP Five Simple Crimes, the judicious sprinklings of harmonica, cello and female backing vocals all adding to the heart string-tugging effect. Cavan releases his double A-sided follow-up – Lonely Rival b/w Pricked To A Pattern on seven inch vinyl on Monday 12 May. The single enhances this even further and places the album, that will inevitably follow, into the category marked ‘hugely anticipated’.

‘Cavan Moran: a man rewriting the troubadour rulebook with stunning results’ – Manchester Evening News

Main support comes from Elle Mary & The Bad Men. Drawn to the communicative and bonding qualities of ‘folk’ but explorative beyond its stylistic connotations; enough of a pack member to want a band yet also keen to imbue a sense of solitude through her music, Elle Mary is an artist who operates best when balancing conflicting instincts. It’s what lies beneath the subtle tension that slightly tugs at the heart of her and The Bad Men’s acoustically-webbed slowcore minimalism.

Opening the show is folk musician Jack Oakes.

Price: £5 adv
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