Camden New Journal - Music: Noah And The Whale

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The Review - MUSIC - grooves with CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 3 April 2008

In the belly of the Whale

PREVIEW: NOAH AND THE WHALE
Archway Library and Camden Crawl

NOAH and the Whale definitely have a gang.
They’re mates with everyone in the folk-pop scene: Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn and Adam Green to name but three.
Do they sit in a room together clapping and coming up with harmonies? Maybe, but the Noah troupe are definitely getting the most out of it – frontman Charlie Fink has walked away with a cache of Myspace gems.
Despite being described as “the group’s visionary” – something the rest of the north London foursome could not be blamed for taking exception to in my book – Mr Fink is clearly a magician.
Many of his songs could happily play around in my head all day, while their up-tempo jigs, such as Beating and Shape Of My Heart, lift the spirit.
Beating – which is a heartbeat reawakening through love – is best when it picks up towards the end but even the melancholic intro could lull a roaring crowd into submission.
As it moves into a raucous fiddlesticks finale, you’ll be let down if nobody attempts to grab your hand for a barn dance.
They have hundreds of gigs coming up, including the Camden Crawl on April 18-19 and a sold-out headline set at the Soho Revue Bar on April 24.
But the most intriguing one for me is the set they have been booked to do in Archway library for Islington’s Pure Groove Record shop as part of their free Archway Festival. Starting next Tuesday and running until April 19, acts are booked to perform at unconventional places, including Archway swimming pool.
One final thought – I wonder why it’s Noah, and not Jonah and the Whale (from the original title of the biblical story about a man who is swallowed by a whale before later being set free)?
Perhaps Mr Fink will throw some light on this literary licence-taking at his library gig...

* Noah and the Whale play Koko on Tuesday April 8

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