Jonah Tolchin at Rough Trade West

On a sweltering summer evening Jonah Tolchin provided such an authentic country soundtrack you felt you were almost in the Deep South of America. His new album Clover Lane is a far cry from the raw debut of Criminal Man – which reflects his signing to Yep Roc Records and the producers who come with it – but last night at Rough Trade West it was just Jonah and his guitar as the artist played an array of tunes from his new album. He is the epitome of a young man with an old soul and it was here that his husky voice enchanted the crowd.

Catchy track Mockingbird is a spin on the classic nursery rhyme Hush Little Baby. The big difference here are the lyrics, which are much gloomier as he belts out “Hush baby not so loud, they’ll come round and shoot you down”. This is a lot like the rest of his tracks: happy beat laced with dark lyrics.

Midnight Rain would have had the audience showing off their best do-dosey-do’s had it been in a bigger venue. You can imagine this would be perfect at a festival. Tolchin then changed the tone of the evening and performed a much slower track. With lyrics like “When he drew the gun, the blood poured for a week” it connotes images of the Deep South circa 1960. It also reinforces the fact that Jonah is an understated, slightly geeky, loveable, 20-something year old with a voice that is years beyond him.

The gig was short and sweet (a lot like him!), and it’s just a shame that there wasn’t more to enjoy, but you know how it goes: treat them mean, keep them keen!

Samantha Waite

For further information about Jonah Tolchin and future events visit here.

Watch the video for 21^st Century Girl here: