Sweet Megg in London
I had been looking forward to this one. Megg's 2025 album "Never Been Home" was the first full album I ever reviewed, right at the beginning of the Vibes, one year ago.
It's not often that I don't know where to start. The venue? The vibe? The music? The artist? This one will need all the skills of my trusty editor. [That a hint, bruh? Ed.] Read on!
Megg explained at the very outset that she sings whatever style she fancies at the time. The best way I have seen this approach described is genre-blending but last night was mainly about jazz, with a couple of Americana numbers thrown in from last year's Never Been Home, and some covers.
I sensed Megg was having a lot of fun as she chose what to play on the fly, and settled in for a substantial two-hour shift with her favourite guitarist, Thor Jensen, newly relocated to London and himself half of a duo with none other than Ashley Campbell.
Things kicked off with a Duke Ellington cover before moving onto the opening track of Never Been Home, My Irish Ex. Megg herself has some complex roots. An Irish family, a New York accent and a home in Nashville. She is the consummate globetrotting career musician. She introduced us to the concept of a "Nashville Rehearsal" which is basically ten seconds of sotto voce whispering about keys and chord progressions on the stage, and they were off on another tune.
I learnt a little more about her London song, Piccadilly Line (Waiting) which was at least partly conceived in a park in Cambridge, England. It was written at the time the Roe v Wade law was being repealed, in the summer of 2022. It's fascinating that the topic needs no introduction or explanation for Americans, yet it barely registers to English ears. Without drifting too much to politics, I'm relieved I live in a place that would find repealing those protections inconceivable.
There was something for everyone, and the set moved on to Weed Smokers Dream, the latest single from the upcoming album Massive Negroni. The original might have referred obliquely to sex work but this time around there is an undertow of social media culture and the idea that everyone has to become a brand these days ready to pimp themselves out on TikTok.
I learned that this album was recorded in the Catskills with Thor after he decided to decamp to London. It's a sort of fusion jazz which I think they decided to call Laser Jazz but in any case involves reworking jazz standards and updating the lyrics in places.
As we don't often cover jazz on this platform you might like to know that vocalese is a style where someone puts words to an instrumental solo. This one might have been called Twisted and was extremely well-received.
The audience loved Dorothy Fields' I Must Have That Man as popularised by Billie Holiday and it is a funny lyric. I've written before about the ins and outs of men writing songs for women to sing. It can misfire, and here is a song written by a woman for a woman to sing.
We even had a song, La Foule (The Crowd) sung in French and popularised by Édith Piaf. My tourist French could pick out a sentence here and there but Megg helpfully explained that it is a dramatic narrative: two people are thrust together at random at an outdoor event, possibly a music festival... it is love at first sight and things get hot very early on. Regrettably, the crowd itself intervenes to separate the would-be lovers and they are forcibly parted, never to set eyes on each other again.
Stoned & Alone was written after a tour got cancelled and Megg's guy was also away on a tour at the same time. I really enjoyed this one and the humour continued with Absolutely Not in Love With You, a refrain repeated so often that it is obviously untrue. After which came Nashville, another catchy new one.
Things drew to a close a full two hours after they began, with another single from Massive Negroni, last month's Slip In Mules. I loved that song from the start. Jazz singing so often has a humour to it that also carries across into country music. A funny lyric will always grab my attention. The time flew, and it is not often that the music carries me away into all sorts of reveries and reflections to that extent.
The venue helped, see below, and the audience were seriously impressed. I tend to review music primarily as a fan, and a student of the lyric, but last night I found myself sitting next to an actual singer, @kohlcass, who was simultaneously inspired by and in awe of Megg's vocal control and range. The unanimous opinion is that Megg can really sing!
There was just time to grab an incredible translucent blue vinyl version of Never Been Home before jumping on the slow train back home to the Chilterns, having stayed far longer than planned: the whole evening was an unforgettable experience.
Sweet Megg is on tour now and all tour details are here. You can stream Slip in Mules here. The full album, Massive Negroni, will release on 17 April. Megg is also on Patreon where you can even do live Yoga with her. You can also buy real things on Bandcamp. You can find out more about Thor Jensen here.
Paul Dettmann
Paul Dettmann
Green Note
A new venue on me, and this one is a doozy. Green Note is a vegetarian cafe on Parkway, the very edge of Camden. There is a large venue on the ground floor, and we were in an intimate/cosy basement that was reached by some impressively steep steps. I always say the venue is a paid actor that can really add to a performance and this time it was the perfect location for a memorable night out.
If that isn't Megg's actual car it should be!
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