Concert Review: Mema Wilda at Kumeu Live, 10 April 2021

Mema Wilda delivered a set of enthralling and soulful songs full of raw emotion and psychodrama but totally captivating at the same time. It seemed like a special night for her. A small intimate venue. We were privy to confession and trauma and it is not often that you get revealed the songwriters artistic process at such a naked and raw level.

But every song lifted off. The singer could leap out and soar with effortlessness. She could bring it down again and hold the audience in her grasp. A masterful performance in the end.

Marianne Leigh

Marianne LeighMarianne Leigh opens the evening. She is a very young but fast rising artist. Almost twenty, winner of Rock Quest 2019 for song-writing. Has an EP and singles out of her original material and an album due to be released at the end of this year.

Solo tonight although she usually plays with a band.

Look at Me and she has a sweet Pop voice with Country and Folk leanings. She has worked with   Jamie McDell who has a similar style.

Other big influences in her song-writing and style are Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. She is drawn more to songs of regret and loss. One each from those and they are both stand-outs.

Swift’s Crazier and we get to hear what a talented voice she is. With just the acoustic guitar there is a bit more country in this than the original and she has a strong voice which she doesn’t overplay.

Just as good is Perry’s The One That Got Away. This is more Pop but again without a band her phrasing stands out and she makes this sound like the female answer to the Temptations Just My Imagination.

So, when we get to Best Of Me, her award-winning song, the mood changes. Introspective, quiet and charming with subtlety. This seems to come out the velvet Pop revolution that was the Beatle’s Rubber Soul period.

Could’ve Been the One is her current single and she continues the sweet remorse with the narrator switching from observing other lovers to mourning her own loss. Reminds me of Ray Davies.

A petite package and she delivers with a maturity that belies her age.

Mema Wilda

Mema WildaMema Wilda may seem a bit anxious and nervous at the start but it all comes together right from the start and all that energy goes into delivery.

A sterling band with her.  Shellita Goldsmith drums, Sam Stretch bass, Kent Mori guitar and Andrew Miller saxophone.

Mortality. Big themes. Spare Western twang on guitar to open. Leads into a strong Pop vocal with Jazz colouring from the band. Effortlessly climbs and sustains in the higher register. A thrilling voice.

Israel is neither about the country or the man it’s named after. You wanna be tortured physically/ I wanna be crushed by life. Intense and theatrical. Soothed by some Eastern European Klezmer Jazz colour from the saxophone. Her voice is strong but doesn’t overpower.

Next is Fuck and damn, it if isn’t a bit New Wave. Pain in the voice and dissonance from the players, with great drum accents.

Blue is described as coming out of dreaming and frustration. The drums lead this and anchor the song. A smooth softly emanating song with builds with soulful vocals and opens out into some Celtic Soul Swing.

A very familiar bass line is stretched out and the audience are teased before the band lock into Fever. Mema asks for finger clicks from the audience. The Peggy Lee version, cool and seductive. A masterful version and you get the shivers when she sings the Romeo and Juliet bit. Or a fever.

High Superman was written under the influence of cannabis and is close to classic English Folk of the Sixties and Seventies. Celtic rhythms, a good old swing and stomp with the drums leading and reminiscent of the Fairports.

Wonderland and trying to place her voice, she has some of that eccentric English Soul of a Kate Bush. The guitar pops and adds some light Funk.

The centrepiece of the show tonight is Saviour. First the story of Samoa, family and Church. What it means to be a girl and have ambition denied. It peaks in an exorcism. The full-blown Catholic Church one with invocation of demons.

Then the song starts with a Hotel California refrain and a mournful sax. Progresses to Eastern European Folk and Klezmer Jazz tones. The voice is both sombre and soulful. I’m no messiah/ No sinners pity cry/ Now what makes a saviour great to die and be born again. Saxophone walks beside her up to the emotional climax and tears. Astonishing.

How I Long is her current single and though it has the lyric I deserve to die, it’s a great Pop tune

Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy to finish on an upbeat note. Funky Neo Soul.

Raw emotions and dark matters. But a totally masterful performance and it was a privilege to be in a small intimate setting to experience it.

Rev Orange Peel