Live Review: Jodi Phillis

Jodi Phillis is best known as co-vocalist of ‘90s guitar-pop band The Clouds and was last in Adelaide back in February with that band for a reunion show, before a packed house at The Gov. The singer recently released a fantastic new solo album, Becoming, and tonight she treated a much smaller crowd to an acoustic rendition of the new album, in full, within the intimate surrounds of The Grace Emily Hotel.

Taking to the stage with just an acoustic guitar, Phillis commenced with album opener Visions Of You and it was instantly clear that the new material translated well to the stage, even in such basic form. Hearing new music live for the first time without knowing an album intimately beforehand can sometimes be a struggle, but this was not the case with Phillis’s new material. Some in the crowd seemed to know every word and sang along quietly to many of the songs.

Early on, Phillis explained that the germination of the new album was largely influenced by the passing of both of her parents, which had inspired her to write a heap of new songs. "Thankfully they’re not all sad," she advised to allay any concerns.

Badlands and Endless Blue stood out early on, the latter being an imagined point of view of her father from his deathbed. Rounding out 'side one', the "sadder side", was The Change, which evoked the work of artist Mary Leunig. The more uptempo Truth And The Way introduced ‘side two’ - which she described as a collection of songs about transformation and love. The beautifully dreamy Hudson Dreaming, about the singer’s fond memories of the town of Hudson in upstate New York, was a fitting finale to the album and end of the first part of the show.

Next up was a half hour of songs drawn from Phillis’s solo career and side-projects, including two songs from her post-Clouds group The Dearhunters (the song Ivy being dedicated to the singer’s daughter, Ivy).

The sublime Portobello Rd was followed by Little Sips and The Pier amongst other fan favourites. It was great to hear these songs live (for the first time, for many of those present). Phillis has an amazing voice and a faultless knack for writing beautiful songs. It was a delight to see her up close and personal.