Live Review: Batts, Nyck, Matthew Kenneally

Singer-songwriter Matthew Kenneally can be recognised as the frontman of Melbourne band Canary, but tonight he stands before us to give a solo acoustic performance. He captures our attention with his intricate storytelling and the room is completely quiet, allowing us to take in his warm and melancholic tunes without a single interruption. In addition to some soon-to-be-released solo music, he also adds a subdued cover of Radiohead's Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Nick Acquroff and Dominique Garrard are Nyck (pronounced n.y.c.k). Starting a bit off, in the wrong key, the duo quickly recover to create beautiful harmonies over a tender keyboard melody. Deep emotional build-ups incorporate atmospheric sound effects created using a controller that sits on a stack of milk crates beside them.

"This is one off our new album that hasn't yet been released, so you can't listen to it anywhere else," says Garrard, before telling us they just finished recording an album last week. "It's quite a big achievement even if it sounds shit," Acquroff adds jokingly. They play another new song that they've never played before and it's not shit at all. In fact, it seems as if they've been saving up some of their best work for this highly anticipated record.

Tanya Batt (aka Batts) begins with a new song that's not on her debut EP 62 Moons, which she launches tonight. "I'm shaking so much, this is insane and I'm so overwhelmed. Are you at the right gig?" she jokes. Most of her songs are sad, anyone expecting a rowdy Friday night is probably in the wrong place since Batt's music is depressingly beautiful. Most of the crowd remains pretty quiet, but there is one audience member who shouts out some relentless "wooh!"s. Batt says this sounds like her overexcited mum.

"I'm normally in bed watching Blue Heelers by now," she jokes, referring to the late scheduling of her set since it's now approaching midnight. Her band walks off stage as she plays a song called Change. She takes a sip of beer before singing the stripped-back tune that showcases her incredible, emotionally charged vocals. "Maybe I would change," she sings. Just as the song comes to an end, a punter yells out "No, you're perfect!"

There's no doubt that Batt is a huge space enthusiast. We're Done opens with a recording of Saturn's rings sourced from NASA's archives. She then shares a quick space fact for us: "Saturn is the second biggest planet in the universe, but it's less dense than water. So if there were a bathtub big enough to hold it, Saturn would float." After her final song, Batt warns, "There will be no encore so don't call for one. Leave and go listen to some upbeat, non-depressing music."