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With sublime support from local class-act Drew Thomas and alternative slow-wave of George O’Hanlon, Rough Trade celebrated Independent Venue Week in the best way possible with an electric flurry of indie-rock that went by the name of Lizzie Esau.

If you’re not familiar with Esau’s songwriting prowess, it may be high tide that you should be. Forming her passions at a young age, and having penned her thoughts to songs over a decade, Lizzie’s desire to express herself through her music certainly hasn’t faded. Ladling flavours from the likes of Wolf Alice’s magnetic Blue Weekend, Beatopia from beabadoobee herself – or hell, even the subliminal sound waves of Radiohead’s The Bends, she’s keen to blow the ears off any passerby or blow the very roof off any stage she finds herself on. She has already made movements within the industry folds supporting The Amazons and Baby Queen in her home city of Newcastle, aswell as establishing her sounds well within the headhunters for Sheffield’sTramlines this year, as she becomes a stoic appearance on a pretty stellar Friday. But she has no intentions of slowing down, as she stamps a stalwart footing into the world of indie-rock with glowering The Enemy and the new rampant piece of Jellyfish.

Now? Now, she embarks on a glitzy showstopper tour aptly titled, THE FUTURE ICONS TOUR ’23 featuring stellar appearances at The Record Junkee in Sheffield, her favourite The Cluny, Newcastle and of course, Rough Trade in Nottingham.

Met with introductory satisfactions from Drew Thomas – a man who is no stranger to making arena-sized choruses that pack a aromatic punch – and George O’Hanlon – a sultry singer-songwriter perfect for those early coffee mornings – we knew we were in for a treat with Lizzie seeing off the night. A ripple of alternative waves ensued with a full live band at the helm and before we knew it, we were enthralled into the hideously catchy offering of The Enemy. New songs in the woodworks were gleefully teased and introduced, no doubt itching to release them into the blurry world of alternative indie-rock. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the pensive rattlings of Bleak Sublime entered the attics of Rough Trade Nottingham, the timber no doubt quaking from all that noise. Esau’s most successful release commercially, Bleak Sublime drips of subtle Wolf Alice with all those airy, beautiful vocals and absorbing instrumentals but is universally Lizzie Esau through and through – a staple we will all soon to hear more from for 2023; that is set to be anything but her year.

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Lizzie Esau

George O’Hanlon

Drew Thomas