THURSDAY 8 | Amanda Bloom – a willowy, porcelain-skinned wisp with a penchant for vintage clothing – is an elegant Australian singer and composer who began studying piano at the age of three, wrote her first sonata aged six and debuted at the Sydney Opera House at just 17. On her first album, The History Of Things To Come, a song by the name of Rosetta – so called in honour of the Rosetta Stone, which famously unlocked the secrets of Ancient Egypt – contains the line: ‘An idea does not gain truth as it gains followers.’ When the album was released in 2010, the lyrics were immediately seized upon by freethinkers the world over. They’ve since been immortalised on everything from websites and radio shows to t-shirts and at least one tattoo. These ten words lie at the core of what Bloom, deeply touched by baroque and world music, describes on the album liner notes as “An epic and astounding fusion of fantasy, circus, classical, and piano-driven alternative rock.” Strings, oboes, harpsichords, cellos and timpanis layer in orchestral splendour amid off-beat rhythms, stunning harmonies and still more stirring lyrics. “Imagine an 18th century tea party with Tori Amos, Cirque du Soleil, Yann Tiersen and Muse” is how she defines her own otherwise almost indefinable style. Tonight, she will conjure a hypnotic blend of narrative, classical folk songs from her soon-to-be-released second album. And we really mean it this time (apologies to everyone who turned out to see her last month only to find the gig was cancelled. If it’s any consolation, we didn’t know either).
WHO: Amanda Bloom
WHAT: A hypnotic blend of narrative, classical folk songs
WHERE: The Village, #1 Street 360
WHEN: 8:30pm August 8
WHY: “Imagine an 18th century tea party with Tori Amos, Cirque du Soleil, Yann Tiersen and Muse” – Amanda Bloom