Secret Meeting score: 70

by Marina Díaz Valenzuela

Photography by Joanna Bradtke

Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee came to fame after releasing 2012’s lo-fi, bedroom-recorded album American Weekend, and the band’s set at Band on the Wall demonstrated that this sound has grown exponentially since then. In fact, most of the set – which featured a full touring band, including her twin sister – revolved around the following three albums in her discography, in particular her latest release, last year’s Out In The Storm.

Despite being backed by her band, the highlights of the night were the acoustic songs Katie played solo, such as The Dirt and Sparks Fly- which served as examples of the beauty of her vocal range and her captivating song writing that was particularly evident on her debut record. But, at times, these qualities were lost when the band – who were unexpectedly extremely loud – performed in full. This meant that the uniqueness of Katie’s sound and her stunning voice faded into a mire of loud guitars and drums. Thus falling into the trap of sounding like pretty much every other band in the genre, and meaning some of the layers and cadences found in her studio performances were lost.

Waxahatchee is definitely an artist to keep an eye on. She is a wonderful songwriter, who’s demonstrated that she’s keen for her sound to develop and become more polished and interesting across each new recording. But maybe the live sound needs a little polish too.

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