Hyde Park Book Club? It’s Nothing that Dolores Forever can’t sell out!
Eszter Vida reviews Dolores Forever’s sold out headline show at Hyde Park Book Club.
‘Shut up and eat the pasta!’ Dolores Forever is back in town, and you just had to be there. Saving Leeds as best ‘till last for the UK leg of their tour, the indie-pop collective graced the stage with pure unapologetic fun on a sold-out Sunday night. The duo, composed of Hanna Wilson and Julia Fabrin, made a ½ homecoming show back to Wilson’s roots in a tightly-packed basement of our beloved Hyde Park Book Club.
A swarm of eager fans, awaiting their entrance as they were welcomed by the support act Pet Snake. But just gone 8:45pm, a light brush of shuffling passed my shoulder, and the train of performers slipped by on my right. There was never an overrated 4th wall of performance to begin with, as we experienced the priceless intimacy of what you wouldn’t get at any larger venues.
It’s hard to define genre in today’s age of music, but Dolores Forever weaves their influences together marvellously, refining 80s pop disciplines with a modernised DIY/indie take on post-pandemic/ 21st century narratives of experiencing the world as a young person. The release of their debut album It’s Nothing marked a pinnacle point in their career and defining sound, oozing with a synthy alt-pop essence comparable to contemporaries Sharon Van Etten, Holly Humberstone and even bedroom-pop acts like Soccer Mommy and experimental pop legend Caroline Polachek.
Moments of splendour involved their surprisingly euphoric lyric ‘Shut up and eat the pasta’ from old-time favourite ‘Someday Best’ in a very liberating act of screaming along with the rest of the audience. “The ‘angry women energy’. I fucking see you.” A statement made by Wilson that was nothing short of the drive reflected back on stage as the audience received them with the same passion. In an effort to avoid boxing their sound into the category of bedroom-pop, tracks like ‘Why Are You Not Scared Yet?’ and ‘Concrete’ are proof that their sound reflects more than just the anxiety of being 20-something; in fact, there’s a darker thematic presence of resentment and discontent. It’s something that translates to the crowd during their live set, the dedicated front row bouncing up and down as the chorus of closer ‘Not Now Kids’ hits.
For more emotive bangers, ‘Split Lip’ was my personal favourite of the night. Stripping back from the more in-your-face angst, this track is one that makes you well up in the most unexpected way, specifically when they sang lines that directly addresses you in that small room: ‘you don’t have to give yourself a split lip, you don’t have to beat yourself up over it, you know I hate seeing you like this?’ Each chorus feels louder, boomier as the drums reverberate, the band reaching further into your soul like a best friend would.
Concluding on an endless applause and significantly more endless merch queue (support small artists!), you could say there’s promise behind their very fitting stage name that the feeling you are left with could last forever. If I was an etymologist, their Spanish first name ‘Dolores’, meaning ‘pain’, isn’t forever, and that’s the ephemeral beauty of their music connecting with fans, also evident in their patient post-show goodbyes to their fans.
For fans of: Sharon Van Etten, Holly Humberstone, Bleachers.
Words by Eszter Vida
