Willy Mason

A few weeks ago I didn´t know much about Willy Mason. I had just read by chance a review in Pitchfork and there were two pieces of information that I had found quite intriguing.

The first one was he being discovered by one of Bright Eyes’ band members and consequently being signed up to Conor Oberst record company for his debut album, when he was just nineteen.

The second one was Pitchfork giving a bad review and a low rating to his latest release -nothing alarming to be honest-, where they made reference to some other –presumably less prestigious- publication that, in the reviewer´s opinion, made the mistake of comparing him -how dare!- to Leonard Cohen.

I have to partly agree with this: he wasn´t Leonard Cohen, but his work is well (!) worth a listen. 

With accumulated experience after years opening for a lot of big acts (Norah Jones, Bright Eyes and the like), Willy Mason was looking confortable both in his suit and into his own skin standing in the middle of the tiny stage of the Toff. He brought along a couple of support musicians to make things look fancier and make everyone feel there was a bigger show going on.

I was familiar with the songs and I liked how they really had an nice subtle live component. A few times, the glamour dimmed a litlle bit, but overall it kept up with my highest expectations: it was worth it and I hope there will be a lot of good things happening for Willy over the next few years. 

I am really looking forward to see him growing a bit more into his own style. If this happens and he starts releasing more regularly, I will not be surprised if we hear lots of great things about Willy Mason by next year.

The opening act, Haydn Calnin, was quite good by the way. There is definitely a lot of young talent in Melbourne too…