By Lucy Cormack
Julia Jacklin
Oxford Arts Factory, December 9
★★★½
Julia Jacklin sold out the Oxford Arts Factory, revealing a growing fan base following her indie rock and roots sound.
In conversation Julia Jacklin is softly spoken, almost timid to the point where it is hard to hear her.
But let her stage chat develop into song and that seemingly shy young girl blossoms into a poised songstress, who can hold the room.
It was only January of this year that the 26-year-old Australian singer-songwriter was playing a free outdoor show for the Sydney Festival.
Fast forward to Friday night and Jacklin, originally from the Blue Mountains, sold out the Oxford Arts Factory, revealing a growing fan base following her indie rock and roots sound.
Melancholy, nostalgia and quiet resignation are all strong themes in Jacklin's lyrics, which were complemented by long, mournful moments on guitar.
The themes were such that perhaps 10.30pm on a Friday night at Oxford Arts Factory was not the best venue, what with the dull thump of house beats interjecting from the club downstairs in quiet moments such as Motherland.
Offering what she termed as a "no frills" performance of her recently released album Don't Let the Kids Win, Jacklin showcased silky vocals, sliding from head voice to chest voice in a style not dissimilar to that of Sally Seltmann or Joanna Newsom.
Supported on vocals by drummer Thomas Stephens and backed by Eddie Boyd on guitar and Harrison Fuller on bass, Jacklin presented a solid sound, helped along by a visible onstage energy within the band.
But halfway through the hour-long set there was a definite feeling of repetition between songs, prompting a whisper from one audience member, that "she played this already, didn't she?"
Reminiscing on the last time she last took to the OAF stage, Jacklin spoke of an emptier room in which "everyone was talking".
Two years on, the room was full and the audience produced only a slight hum of chatter from up the back.
But a little part of me wonders if the sounds of Jacklin and her band would be best heard not in a room at all, but outdoors on a warm afternoon, uninterrupted by the bustle of the city nightlife.