Live Review: Fractures, Edward R

The crowd need a little bit of coaxing at Howler tonight. When Edward R arrives on stage to deliver an engaging performance as the opening act for Fractures, he politely requests that everyone move in a bit closer to get rid of the "great dividing wall". From here, each track livens us up with a slow drumming fever that has people shifting around as if they're about to confess in a small-town chapel. A great build of sound and variation from track to track leaves the crowd enthralled.

After a brief changeover, Fractures (the moniker of Mark Zito) comes out onto the stage and the mood shifts to adjust to the new sound. Stage lights turn to cobalt blue, illuminating the faces in the crowd and calming the restless onlookers. Zito displays his evocative vocal range with a five-piece backing band that never threatens to dominate. Fall Harder, Lowcast and Apnea (from recently released album Still Here) are performed and take us into a space that's pensive and vulnerable. Even though Zito jokingly comments that perhaps the audience hasn't heard his new tracks, there are plenty who flock towards the front of the stage and sing along to the lyrics.

As the night progresses, Fractures veer a bit off script to play a song called Dissolve, which Zito tells us was written three or four years ago but didn't make the EP. Accompanied by bright stage lights, the song picks up intensity and pace with guitars and drums in full-swing to shake off the solemn mood of previous tracks. In between songs, Zito speaks to the crowd with ease and familiarity, showing a slightly comical side as he explains the meaning behind some of his lyrics.

I Don't Mind is the final track and wraps up proceedings for the night. Holding us in various states of suspension, Zito draws in a deep breath, the band silent for a few moments, which accentuates the overall intensity of this song that calls to mind Paul Dempsey. Fractures don't end by rising to a dramatic climax, but that's not really Zito's style. Instead we're engulfed by a world that's new and yet somehow familiar, leaving us lost in thought long after the music stops.