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Rachel Sermanni

Venue: Queen's Hall
Town: Edinburgh
Date: 14/8/14
Website: http://rachelsermanni.net

Rachel Sermanni graced the stage at the imposing Queen's Hall, accompanied by Jennifer Austin on piano and Colin Macleod on guitar. 2014 has been a triumphant year for this highly talented young lady from Carrbridge, with a number of successful tours around the world and the release of a critically-acclaimed EP, "Everything Changes".

Rachel Sermanni is a very natural, quietly charismatic and assured performer and she kept the audience mesmerised throughout this gig with a well-judged selection of her beautiful and quietly powerful songs. The recent EP was represented by the elegant "Two Birds" and the jaunty, mandolin-led "Lay-Oh". The clutch of songs from 2012's debut album, "Under Mountains", evidenced how much Rachel's voice has developed since then, in terms of depth and richness of tone. The highlights here included the majestic sweep of "Breathe Easy"; the edgy darkness of "The Fog"; the dramatic "To A Fox"; the wistful "Waltz"; and the achingly beautiful "Marshmallow Unicorn".

A number of new songs bore witness to Rachel Sermanni's steadily-developing talent as a writer of uniquely beautiful and interesting meolodies and lyrics. Rachel also harmonised delightfully with Colin Macleod on his own joyous song "Show Me The Easy Way Out" and on the Adam Holmes song, "Mother Oak", which brought to a close what was a truly uplifting performance.

Rachel Sermanni's biggest UK headline tour to date begins in Stirling in October and ends on 18th November in London with the launch of her new live album "Live In Dawson City" (available to pre-order now).

David Ferguson