Concert Review: Kae Tempest Shines Under Stunning Skylines

Ugh! Life! Am I right? There are certain words that are so powerful just the mere, singular uttering of them opens up a door of the most indefinable definitions like, peace. We all know about it but ask me to describe it and I will probably ramble like I’m doing now. For Kae Tempest, “Life” is that word. It is the phrase that musters every feeling we have to know an idea of it, but every word we know just can’t seem to define it. Thus, at Dumbo House, they hoped music would get her closer to doing so. 

Tempest’s music truly is for dimly lit rooms with stunning skylines. Why? Because those are the rooms where the most inner thoughts occur. Frankly, I have questioned my existence more on my birthday then on any other, regular day. For some reason, beautiful things heighten us to ask if we deserve them or if, perhaps, we have been defining too much of our life as ugly. From “More Pressure“ to “ Grace,” Tempest human experience is at the forefront, and their journey bleeds with the perplexities and complexities of trying to simplify. In essence, the hardest things to do is be easy, and yet that is all we want: ease. 

Temprest flowed in their set, in part, because there is an inherent quietness and command to their presence. For however much they smile, it is the silent focus they have on giving their words every ounce of meaning in song as they did when first written that make them, as an artist, also a poet. Singer value musical notes, but poets value words. For them, nothing means anything without a word’s efforts, and as a singer, Tempest is the same, which makes them a musician for those seeking more than music… they want art.