Evidently, bands from California don’t give a damn that Sunday is a day of rest and relaxation. Passing through Brighton on their tour of the UK and Europe, The Seshen brought vitality to the Green Door Store, tempting a full house, and no doubt ruining a few Monday mornings in the process.

What comes across on their 2016 record, Flames & Figures, as downtempo electro-soul, quickly revealed itself as something very different in a live environment. Perhaps it was that the band are touring without their keys or sampler, but their performance was overwhelmingly percussive: a three-man rhythm section of bass, drums and percussion, with lead vocals from Lalin St. Juste on top. It made for a visceral and urgent sound that, while deeply involving electronica, placed rhythm at its heart – downtempo, it was not.

Having said that, they represented all the styles from their album, with both drummers using sample-pads for a wealth of sounds. Over the raw drums were looped St. Juste’s piercing vocals, while underneath growled deep sub-bass lines. Their production moved between modern soul and minimal electro, taking in psychedelia along the way. The brainchild of bassist and producer Akiyoshi Ehara, these elements, interestingly, participated in the same clean styles that are popular among London’s producers at the moment, and gave the band a floating and almost fragile tone.

Chris Thalmann on drums brought hip-hop, funk and breakbeat to the mix, at times cutting his hands loose and laying down fast chops lifted from gospel. Copelman on percussion had clear Latin influences to his playing and, while often limited himself to adding a tribal energy to the songs, took centre stage during his solos, authentically reproducing the brittle sounds of Brazil, Cuba and Colombia’s street parties.

The end result was a disparate style of music that freely and easily incorporated influences which don’t naturally gel – or so you’d think, until you see The Seshen. It was all brought together by St. Juste’s vocals, which drew on R’n’B and jazz, often looped and repeated to build a dreamy and translucent haze. She had no problem holding the crowd’s attention on stage and, when she really sung out, those in the crowd with earplugs were glad of them.

In some ways it was hard to square the on-stage experience with the sound of the album. Not in a negative sense – the band brought a lot more immediacy to the Green Door than to their record, which makes for great listening, but which you’d find hard to dance to at home. Perhaps the band makeup on the night skewed the experience in favour of momentum. This isn’t to say they were a straightforward dance band – their fluidity and diversity came across very clearly, and they are doubtless a group capable of experimenting in untapped and exciting ways. Anyone on the lookout for a boundary-expanding performance would do well to take note of The Seshen. Sadly, it will be a while before they return to the UK.
Ben Noble

Website: theseshen.com

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