Lo-fi has a reputation for being synonymous with “chill”— mellow hip hop beats, and smooth jazz influences, inoffensive white noise fuzz and the steady drip of simulated raindrops on an outdoor window.
French-Korean artist spill tab brings lo-fi back to its intended meaning of “low fidelity” at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, embracing all the unpolished effects of music production. The show was a celebration of the little joys of live music: amps pushed to the limit, reverb and plucky bass strings and mic feedback, legions of screaming fans, sweat beading on your hairline and smudging your eyeliner.
spill tab’s “Angie” tour is in support of her latest release (the eponymous Angie), her first full length album. This show wasn’t her first in New York, but the legions of fans who turned up midweek would have you thinking otherwise. They were clearly excited, with a whole host of new songs to hear live for the first time.
Energy Levels
There’s a deep energy that permeates the venue. Some songs are amped up, others more subdued. Yet there’s an undercurrent through it all, a steady electric thrum that keeps the audience feeling alive the whole time. Energy is high, but not in a screaming your head off way – more of a live and in the moment way – goosebumps, heart in your throat, the heat of the lights and crackling hot smell of overcharged amps
Spill tab does a solid job of keeping this heartbeat going, a charismatic performer and steady leader.
Standout Performances
Grade A – “Grade A” is bubbly, with breathy vocals anchored by a buoyant bassline. It just sounds fun, and really worked as the first song to kick off the set. It allows spill tab to bop around the stage and meet the dedicated fans who turned up on a Wednesday night, gets energy high without getting too into anyone’s face.
Adore Me – Jazzy and warm, “Adore Me” takes on a retro lounge sound and combines it with wistful lyrics of wanting a past lover to return. There’s a sensuality to it, whisper-soft vocals and sighing high notes and spill tab bathed in red light. Although there’s a loneliness to it, hearing the audience sing along adds another layer — a feeling that even in one’s loneliness there are people who have felt the same.
Wet Veneer- Though this song closes out Angie, here “wet veneer” is a mid-set standout. A softer, sadder song about disappearing along with the steam after a shower. Plucky synths mimic a dripping tap while spill tab laments “they won’t find me, just the water running in the bathroom.” It’s evocative, and I found myself struck by its brusque simplicity when performed. Perhaps that feeling, zoned out and watching a bead of water trail down a shower door and disappear and passively wishing you could join it, isn’t universal. But the experience of the song certainly makes it relatable.
De Guerre – One of spill tab’s French language songs, “De Guerre” is a disorienting whirlwind of a song that impressively switches genres and tempos multiple times within its sub-three minute runtime. Rock inspired guitars and crashing drums meet poppy electronic beats halfway through the song, meshing together into a cacophony of cymbals and synth notes. It’s fun to watch live, has the crowd up and moving despite being towards the end of the set, and succinctly shows what spill tab does best.
High Notes
The intimacy.
There’s a notion that intimacy means softness, or quietness. This is not the case at spill tab’s show.
The stage is set like a living room: lamps cast a delicate glow, carpets and rugs soften the floor of the stage. It feels like a peek into a studio, or a living room: something personal. But countered with the other elements: the raging guitars, the strobing neon lights, spill tab’s sorrowful crooning in songs like “Adore Me,” the whirling audience – the scene is far from soft and quiet.
Yet that doesn’t remove how close it makes you feel to both spill tab and the other audience members. There’s an unspoken acknowledgment that the “bad” feelings one might have – jealousy, anger, heartbreak – aren’t experienced alone.
On the cover of Angie, spill tab holds a king salmon up like a trophy. On stage, she sports a shirt depicting a salmon twisting over itself. In the venue lobby, that shirt is available to fans to buy. The metaphor is an omniscient one: the album and tour carrying the banner of an animal that despite years at sea, instinctually swims upstream to the freshwater pond it was born in to die. As spill tab’s set bobs and weaves from the quieter, softer moments of plucky acoustic “by Design” up to the frenetic heights of “CRÈME BRÛLÉE!,” it reinforces that cyclical feeling of birth, death, and rebirth.
For Fans Of
Authenticity. A lot of music right now is perfectly curated, pre-digested and ready to be chopped up into viral TikTok audios.
Combining the imperfections of lo-fi music with raw and honest emotion, spill tab stands as the antithesis to this. For those who look at the Hot 100 and wonder who the hell all those people are, this tour will offer a place of solace.
Verdict
Spill tab’s music is elevated even further in her live performance of it, moving beyond catchy indie to pure electricity. If you’re aching to feel something from live music again, spill tab’s show is the place to go.
As the crowd leaves that night, they step out from the warm enclave of the venue into an unexpected late summer downpour. After a show with so many layers: change and rebirth, embracing imperfection, the image of a king salmon swimming upstream to die where it was born: it feels fitting.
spill tab will be joining king princess on her upcoming Girl Violence tour through November. For more updates, check out her Instagram and YouTube.
For more recaps, check out our review of K-pop group P1Harmony in Chicago.
