The music industry has always been filled with its fair share of talented siblings: Oasis, The Carpenters, The White Stripes, and now Esme Emerson. The Suffolk indie-folk duo released their first single in 2021, and have since become known for their intimate blend of soft rock, indie, folk and pop, which has taken them to the heights of headline tours, festival appearances, and support slots for artists as well-known as fellow Ipswichian Ed Sheeran. Performing their first English show of the year, the duo and their band stopped off at Deaf Institute to charm Manchester fans.
Quiet Houses opened the night with ‘buttercup’, a song featuring bird noises and twinkling guitar, seeing Jamie Stewart and Hannah Elliott sway in unison as they introduced their blend of dreamy indie-pop. Taking a moment to thank Esme Emerson for having them on tour, Elliott told the crowd “it’s already been so much fun, we’re very grateful to be here”, continuing “I used to live in Manchester so this is really cool, we’ve never played on this stage but I used to come to gigs here all the time”. Because of this, the Deaf Institute date provided “a slight hometown show, since this is where the band started”, while Stewart was a student at RNCM and Elliott attended the University of Manchester.
Despite the softness of their music, Quiet Houses did not lack in humour, and this transpired as they invited audience members to play a game of siblings or dating. Because of their resemblance to each other, or perhaps because sibling duos were already on peoples mind, the crowd chose them to be siblings. Stewart and Elliott refrained from answering the question until mid-way through the set, however, finally admitting that “we’ve been in a relationship for ten years”.
Prior to this revelation, the duo performed ‘See for Miles’ and ‘i know how to dream’: the latter combines forceful strums of an acoustic guitar and a whimsical electric guitar riff with stop-start verses, a catchy chorus and building bridge, making it a near-perfect indie-pop song.
The duo’s most recent single ‘bubble’ followed, and was introduced as a track “about living in your own world” and “staying true to yourself”. It’s another near-perfect indie-pop song, proving that Quiet Houses have certainly got the formula right. ‘Cold Water Swimming’ was similarly impressive, staking its claim as the most beautiful piece of music to feature in the set accompanied by a gorgeously plucked guitar.
Pausing to introduce band members Imogen and Chris, the duo examined the cheering levels and came to the conclusion that “Imogen is more popular tonight”, with Elliott asserting that “it’s always a competition” between the two of them. They closed with two songs that should be more popular than they are: ‘Ocean Avenue’, and a new track giving the audience a glimpse into some unreleased music. Both were catchy and palatable while managing to remain interesting, cementing Quiet Houses as the perfect opener for an act like Esme Emerson.
Esme Emerson’s own set opened with ‘Gun’, thankfully an unreleased song as the autotune was accidentally kept on for its duration. The duo were back on track as they launched into ‘Fade Out’, a highlight from their EP Big Leap, No Faith, Small Chancer. This was a clear fan favourite as the crowd sang back every word, the show’s first moment of audience interaction. As the song came to an end, Esme stated “we’re very excited to be here, this is one of our dream venues”, before informing the audience that “we’re going to play you a bunch of unreleased music, we just finished working on something”. This led into ‘Go Back’, the second unreleased track of the night.
‘Together’ brought a slight country feel, before ‘Yard’ saw arms swaying in the air in time with the melody. Following this, another unreleased track named ‘Normal’ started softly with the siblings harmonising, before building slightly. The next unreleased track, ‘Woof’, was the most country Esme Emerson have ever been, even utilising the genre’s traditional storytelling elements. Their latest single ‘Centipede’ was met with cheers, and a crowd that were entirely familiar with it despite its recent release, causing Emerson to admit “I feel overwhelmed, but in the best way possible”.
Esme’s autotune pedal was used to its proper effect for ‘Stay’, which displayed a genre-blending electronic influence in its slow-building, haunting synths. The penultimate unreleased track of the night was ‘Jackie’, a song that can only be described as explosive with its unexpected burst of instrumentation. It faded out with a flurry of light piano, and into ‘Please’ with its heart-wrenching lyrics: “I hope you feel it, cross my heart and hope to God you mean it”.
The “last new song of the set” was ‘Baby Goodbye’, which opened with shimmering guitar and became complete with an instance of choreography. Prior to ‘Show You (Truck Song)’, one audience member handed Esme what looked to be hand-knitted artificial flowers, which she placed in her pocket with the petals peeking out. This display of love from the crowd was echoed and reciprocated as she encouraged the audience to sing the song’s final lines themselves. The night closed with ‘Too Far Gone’, and after fourteen songs that seemed to pass by in a heartbeat, the duo and their band left the stage.
If their show at Deaf Institute was anything to go by, the new Esme Emerson material is something everyone should keep an eye on. Dreamy indie-pop is admittedly overdone in the modern musical landscape, but Esme Emerson are masters of their craft, bringing their own spin to traditional tropes without falling into dullness. Their songs are imbued with emotion, but remain light and easy to listen to: the chemistry between siblings has never been utilised more effectively.
