C Duncan, Union Chapel, London, review: Choral harmonies capture the heart

The Glasgow-based classically trained composer's exquisite songs are elevated in lush surroundings

C Duncan produced one of 2015’s best breakthrough records

With his Mercury Prize nominated debut album Architect, made in his bedroom at a cost of just £50, Glasgow-based classically trained composer Christopher Duncan produced one of 2015’s best breakthrough records.

Wandering the same wistful indie-folk wilderness as Fleet Foxes (and other Grizzly Bears) the songs on Architect belie the negligible cost of their creation with meticulously constructed arrangements, multi-instrumentation and layered choral harmonies.

Already sounding like they were recorded in a dilapidated church, Duncan’s songs feel yet more exquisite in the lush surroundings of the Union Chapel. With the winter cold biting outside, in front of hushed reverence his four-piece band warm the soul, amplifying the songs’ intricacies so that every melody, guitar shimmer and honeyed harmony fill the expectant air.

When Duncan sings the sparse I’ll be Gone by Winter, dimly lit with disco ball lights swirling romantically, such is the spine-tingling effect the audience’s stunned, pin-drop silence lasts seconds after the song’s conclusion, as if unwilling to break the magic spell.

Two ballet dancers inject a sense of theatrical fun during the pastoral-folk of For, but as shown by delicate closer Castle Walls, sang in affecting unison with his band, C Duncan needs no such tricks to capture hearts.