Despite having released music for over a decade, as well as being a long-time collaborator of Wyatt and Fletcher Shears (of The Garden, Enjoy and Puzzle), Slater is still quite underrated. Those who have happened to check out his colourful and confident discography, though, have discovered in him an artist brimming with charm and flare.
Slater’s sound is distinctively sunny, something no doubt traceable to his Orange County, LA background, and, with every new project, he has always managed to find some exciting way to innovate upon it. This is true even of his latest album, ‘ESI 2,’ which is, as indicated by the title, a follow-up record of sorts to 2021’s ‘ESI.’
This being the case, you can understand my dismay at the noticeably sparse turnout to his show on Saturday – there can’t have been more than thirty people. This I won’t dwell on, because Slater – and impressive support Sunnbrella – still put on an electric show for us, but it’s a shame Manchester didn’t turn up like London, where both acts played to a sold-out venue.
I was unfamiliar with Sunnbrella before the gig; learning only through talking with David Zbirka, who began the project, after their set that there are already two Sunnbrella albums. This, in retrospect, explained the degree of cohesion and musical prowess on display throughout their performance, which, to me, was that of a group that is going places.
As a friend I made at the show (you know who you are!) pointed out, a lot of Sunnbrella’s songs, especially those in which Zbirka sang, brought abrasive electronic duo The Hellp to mind. Unlike the euphoria said duo evoke so powerfully in their music, however, each track played by the three-piece (completed by a fantastic drummer and a synth-player who also provided some dreamy harmonies) was punctuated by a strong sense of urgency and desperation.
Courtesy of pummelled drums, incensed vocal performances and a melange of transportive guitar pedals, Sunnbrella thrust the room into their effervescent sonic world; I, for one, was spellbound. If you get the chance to catch Zbirka and co. when they next venture out from their base of operations (London), I strongly suggest you take it!
Slater took to the stage shortly afterwards. Accompanied simply by a table atop which sat his laptop and soundboard, he kicked off his set with oomph: greeting us with one of his hardest bangers, ‘DJs Up In The Club’ from his 2023 ‘Beneath The Motel’ EP. Referring again to his sprawling discography, Slater plucked songs from all variety of projects in what actually functioned like a DJ set; the oldest track he played being his biggest, 2019’s ‘I’ll Put It on Metal.’
Material from ESI 2 comprised about half of these, though, and each from this masterful collection of RnB and rap songs went down a treat. Those he performed included album opener, ‘No Mas,’ an intoxicatingly groovy number that provided us with a last, fleeting taste of summer, the bouncy ‘So Fly’ and ‘So Much Blood,’ whose rather dramatic title contrasts considerably with its breezy, laidback instrumental. On these – and all other – songs he played, Slater’s voice sounded pretty much as it did on the recordings, which is to say he sounded great.
From start to finish, Slater sustained an upbeat atmosphere, both through his buoyant tunes and passionate performance of them. This arguably peaked when he played songs from ESI: ‘Speedin’,’ ‘Swallowed My Key’ and ‘Trix’ (the latter of which features vocals from Enjoy/Wyatt Shears) saw him at his most exuberant.
I found the more left-field additions to the setlist – of the likes of standalone 2021 single ‘Imma Jerk,’ ‘I Don’t Really Care’ and ‘Dancefloor (Full of Nothing)’ to be pleasant inclusions, though personally I thought it would’ve been nice to hear a track or two from last year’s rockier record ‘FM Thoughts.’ On that note, I felt that his set could have been a few songs longer anyway – maybe it usually is, but was cut short due to the relatively sparse turnout, who knows.
Overall, Slater (and Sunnbrella) put on a damn good show. If you weren’t also there to experience it, his recorded material is absolutely worth a listen; if doing that convinces at least a few more people to turn up for Slater next time he’s in town, I’m happy!
