Concert Review: Hand Habits Brings Honesty To Church
Hand habits is so cool. Done! Made my point! Good Night! No, but in all seriousness, I loved her album,
Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void), and, like Marika Hackman, grew fascinated with her ability to marvel at the mundaneness of living. Sure, we can all act like “Life is so fun 24/7”, but it can feel like an influx of boredom and routine splashed with a wedge of happiness. Thus, seeing Hand Habits at Park Church CO-OP felt like an odd, spiritual confrontation. Here we were, at church, listening to songs that, in essence, are about feeling “unholy”.
When I say “unholy”, I do not mean fire and brimstone sinning. I signify the sentiments of divinity that we, usually, do not associate with ourselves because we either do not think they are possible within or apart of us. Although humanity is a divine thing, often, we do not feel “human” or good enough for its more “holier” aspects like love and confidence. Thus, there we all were siting in our pews, as laser light shapes swam in a gothically decorated sky-line and Jesus felt like an honorary usher, closing our eyes to dreamy tracks about struggling to dream. From “Flower Glass” to “New Bones”hearing such songs in a church did not escape the crowd or Hand Habits, who mutually marveled at the strange wonder of singing them in a Christian temple. While church is supposed to be a place open to all, frankly, it could feel quite opposite, and which is why the audience naturally heightened their observation of Hand Habits lyrical penchant and personal vow to emotional honesty; witnessing it play out in a place that calls for it but does not always summon it was fascinating. While her songs such as, “Sun Behold Me”, “Actress”, and “All The While”” play like shyness finding the strength to convert into openness, Hand Habits, real name Meg Duffy, is not as coy a personality as her music might present, which I saw in my first review of her concert. No, she is not going to be “rockette” anytime soon with dazzle and flashy costumers, but if her album presents her spirit like one that is closed door trying to open, her concert, shows she is an open window trying to be okay with being a small opening in a big world.
Wearing a beanie in church, which again you are not supposed to wear inside, and slightly over-sized clothes, Hand Habits had a look that has casual clemency. It was like she was a stranger that had come to beautifully testify to humanity on “humanity”. With a voice that feels light and ventilated like, a church, Hand Habits show was exceptional because certain stage truly elevate your music. They can draw out the aspects of sentimentality, intelligence, and irony that used to arrange your guitar, piano, and voice like a holy trinity of truth. For More Information On Hand Habits Click Here.
