Opal Mag (plus support)

Opal Mag steps into a richer, dream‑fuzz world, supported by three contrasting acts Pleasance, Girl Apocrypha and Black Viiolet.

Prince Albert, Brighton, Thursday 16 July 2026

Opal Mag *****

Opal Mag’s performance unfolded like an artist quietly expanding the emotional and aesthetic perimeter of her work. What has always defined her project, the dream‑fuzz haze, the shoegaze drift, the confessional softness, now feels less like a stylistic choice and more like a world she is inhabiting with greater confidence. Where her stripped‑back ‘Goodbye Lavender’ EP launch shows leaned into quiet, close‑up intimacy, this full‑band return felt like a confident step into a richer, fuzz‑warmed world. Her band played a crucial role in this shift. Annie Frazer’s keys and harmonies added a sparkling, almost cinematic shimmer instrumental in shaping the mood. James Bowden’s guitar noise and slide technique pressed gently against the softness. Connor McCorkindale and Ed Fair gave the songs a rhythmic clarity that allowed Opal’s voice to rise rather than simply float.

The most striking development was her vocal presence. Across the set she moved with a broader, more expressive range: moments of upper‑register lift, moments of quiet conversational intimacy, moments where her tone carried an increased sense of assurance. Newer material made this evolution unmistakable, but even older material felt subtly re‑imagined. A song like ‘Kitchen Song’ retained its intimate, almost diaristic quality, yet now sat within a richer sonic frame; ‘Glow’ and ‘Kiss Me’ revealed how confidently she can step into brightness without losing her soft‑focus core.

What emerged was a performance shaped less by individual songs and more by the interplay between intimacy and expansion. Opal has always written from a place of emotional clarity, but here she seemed to be discovering how that clarity can scale: how a whisper can bloom into something luminous, how a haze can hold weight. The band amplified her world without overwhelming it, allowing her to move between introspection and lift with a fluidity that felt natural. It was a quietly ambitious set, and a compelling sign of where Opal Mag is heading.

Pleasance ****

Pleasance opened the night with a set that showed just how deftly they handle extremes. Rather than leaning on loud–soft dynamics as genre convention, whispered passages collapsing into noise, intentional disturbances were woven into their sound. ‘Casanova’ exemplified this approach: clipped drumming, repetitive synth, vocals that tightened and loosened with deliberate control. Even their heaviest moments carried intention, making intensity feel earned rather than incidental.

Girl Apocrypha *****

Girl Apocrypha’s set offered a vivid counterpoint, built on the friction between theatricality and emotional directness. Emia Demir’s project thrives on contrast: lo‑fi electronics against grunge‑leaning guitars, dark pop against full‑tilt alt‑rock release, deadpan humour against moments of sharp sincerity. Her stage presence amplified this being playful, slightly provocative, yet always anchored by a voice capable of shifting tone with disarming speed.

Her band allowed Emia’s hybrid writing to feel less like genre‑blending and more like a single, deliberately unstable aesthetic, in particular Willow Simpson’s breathtaking guitar breaks. Tracks such as ‘Madonna’ and ‘Dealer’ used electronic sparseness as emotional framing, letting heavier eruptions arrive with heightened impact. ‘Sam’ and ‘Astronaut’ showed her instinct for balancing weight with immediacy, darkness with pop brightness. The set felt like a collage of moods held together by an artist emerging as one of Brighton’s most exciting new voices.

Black Viiolet ****

In their first UK show, Black Viiolet brought a smoky, late‑night palette that contrasted beautifully with the guitar‑driven acts. Nicole Laurenne’s blend of neo‑soul, jazz and trip‑hop moved with warm looseness, her husky vocal tone sitting at the centre of double bass, brass and keys. Tracks like ‘Let Me Down’ and ‘Drop’ revealed different shades of this nocturnal world, while new material such as ‘Make You Mine’ hinted at a direction that feels both intimate and cinematic. The roaming trumpet finale added a playful flourish to a set defined by atmosphere and subtle theatricality.

Peter Greenfield, July 2026