Irish singer-songwriter SOAK romanced the audience at the Swedish American Hall last night with her fragile yet haunting vocals and delicately layered guitar melodies. The 19-year-old took to the San Francisco stage as the second stop on her first proper U.S. tour. Armed with a raspy voice and tender guitar riffs, she carried the audience through various tracks from her debut album,
Before We Forgot How To Dream with previews of a few new tracks not yet titled.
For an artist at such an early stage in her career, she seemed to have already found a comfortability with on-stage banter that takes some musicians many awkward years to master. Providing an admirable display of her vulnerable, introverted personality, SOAK was able to provide relatable experiences of the many plights that we all face during those uncomfortable, yet pivotal, teenage years. “This song was inspired by someone who was such a close friend at some point and then unfortunately drifted and became hated by our group for various reasons,” explained SOAK as she provided insight to what influenced her hit single, “Sea Creatures.”
Most likely being the youngest person in the room, the artist went on to explain how she wrote a few of her songs as early as 14 years old, which was a great reminder to how old the audience was and the bright future that still awaits her. SOAK dove into darker and emotional moments in her life as well, discussing her parents divorce and overhearing their arguments through the walls, providing an openness for the audience to connect with each song on a personal level as she stood valiantly alone on stage.This being SOAK’s first visit to California, she also shared her ironic love for Lucky Charms and commented with admiration to the sunny weather of Los Angles but how “San Francisco is like a really good day in Ireland.”
Freshly renovated, the Swedish American Hall continues it’s summer music lineup following the Noise Pop Music Festival. The attached restaurant/jazz bar, Cafe Du Nord, is open and provided patrons the chance to grab a carefully crafted mix drink before heading back upstairs for the show. Unfortunately, the ‘Dinner and a Show’ experience, where fans will be able to migrate between the restaurant and upstairs balcony of the music venue, will not be ready till 2016 as the venue and restaurant look to slowly integrate one another over time.
With artists like SOAK, at just the beginning of what’s to be a long and successful career, it’s obvious that Noise Pop continues to strive for the Swedish American Hall to be a venue for meaningful and heartfelt performances that will continue to attract outside artists to the Bay Area.