The journey to St Laurence's proved a little more complicated than I was expecting. I disembarked from the train at Falmer Station and found myself amongst a gathering of keen Lutine fans scratching our collective heads, uncertain how to proceed. We asked the advice of a train driver, who seemed convinced the best way to get to Falmer village was to take the underpass to Sussex University, which seemed counter-intuitive – and indeed proved to be the long way round, unnecessarily crossing the A27 twice. Luckily we live in the age of smartphones and google maps, so I was able to navigate my way round the houses and eventually found the church. The last leg of the journey involved a trek down a pitch black country lane, with no clear view of what would be around the corner. When we emerged it was quite a magical sight, the dark waters of Falmer pond reflecting sparse street lights and just beyond stood St Laurence's Church, the entrance marked out by white fairy lights. It was a lovely and appropriate setting for the 'White Flowers' album launch, which they recorded in this church so they were able to recreate the atmosphere perfectly. Bella Emerson opened up proceedings with a solo performance on cello and guitar played through an array of effects pedals with looping capabilities. My friend and I had a bit of a debate as to whether this was actually a guitar or maybe some other more esoteric stringed instrument – I was pretty sure it only had four strings – but it certainly sounded like a guitar. She began the piece and ended it on the 'guitar' and in the middle wove a tapestry of sounds and textures with the cello – alternately harmonising with itself through plucked and bowed notes, playing harmonics and tapping percussively. She showed off what a versatile instrument the cello can be, playing a very free piece, which varied between more melodic and more abstract passages where the sounds were like bubbling water or fizzling white noise. I for one would have loved to get a glimpse of her pedal board! I felt her performance would have really suited visuals, it would have made a great soundtrack for the right silent film. It would have been useful to have raised her up on a platform so we could get a better look at how she was making those amazing sounds as it was hard to see her sitting down with her cello from the church pews.

Bella's set was followed by a short intermission while Lutine set up their projections with some complimentary baked goods on offer: cheese straws, cakes and such. It was impressive how many people they had managed to lure out to this obscure spot. The cakes and friendly chatter went some way to dispel the feeling that we'd been invited to the mysterious meeting of a secret society. Lutine began their set by playing 'Espera' the opening song from the album, Emma Morton and Heather Minor sharing duties on the harmonium and singing. It was a lovely way to begin, focussing the friendly audience's attention on the two singers and their other-worldly harmonies on one of their more medieval sounding songs. They projected visuals on the back wall of the church, which included an ominous eye which, when seen alongside the crucifix and stained glass of the church, looked like it could be a reference to the illuminati! As the set progressed the projections became more pastoral with images of the British countryside and moody seas. The visuals suited the songs but it would have been more effective if they had been paired up more deliberately. They configured the performance space so they could move seamlessly from instrument to instrument whether they used the harmonium, electric piano, acoustic piano or autoharp there were microphones in place which avoided the potential for shambolic shuffling around that sometimes occurs at the shows of multi-instrumentalists. There was an incident when the complicated straps for the autoharp slowed things down, but it was all handled with good humour.

For some reason I had imagined their performance in this space would have been colder and more clinical, a hushed reverie, silently observed. Although their songs were performed with appropriate attention to mood the overall effect was warm and welcoming, as Heather and Emma confidently guided us through their album with the addition of a couple of folk covers like 'Black Is The Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)'. They spoke about recording the album in this space, freezing cold, wrapped in blankets and told an amusing story about a kamikaze seagull who spent the entire time dive-bombing into the back wall of the church during the sessions. They tried to edit the birds antics out of the recordings but if you listen closely you'll be able to make it out. They ended the show by inviting Bella Emerson to join them on cello to perform 'Sallow Tree' – the lead single from the album. It was a beautiful way to end the evening with one of their strongest original compositions and their fullest arrangement. Enthusiastic calls for an encore had to be denied apologetically as they had played us everything they knew! Tonight felt like a well executed beginning for these talented women and I hope it spurs them on to write more and uncover more gems from our rich history of traditional folk music. Throughout the evening I couldn't help but imagine how things would have sounded with additional musicians, those spine-tingling vocals would work really well over trip-hop style beats, for example, but whether they choose to go that way or continue as a duo I will be listening. There's something magical going on in those voices.
Adam Kidd