After a weekend of bombast and electro-shock, Vetiver provided the perfect Sunday night soother.

The vaguely hippieish filled out Crawdaddy last night, as these Devendra Banhart collaborators took to the stage to promote their latest album Thing of the Past. It’s a collection of covers, remoulded in Vetiver’s americana heavy, country blues style and includes tracks as diverse as Hawkwind’s ‘Hurry On Sundown’ and Loudon Wainwright III’s ‘The Swimming Song’. However despite crowd requests, which prompted groans from the band, the rollicking Hawkind track wasn’t played. Instead Vetiver took it easy.

Their sound is so mellow and soft that as soon as those fingers start plucking you can just imagine you’re sitting on a porch, beer in hand, watching the sunset, while in the background the cicadas creak and the wireless gurlges in the kitchen. Their music lulls you with a gentle sway. It’s not the most amazing sound ever, nor the most exciting, however it could claim to be the easiest to listen to. Yet this overriding sense of peace that descends upon the gig dosen’t overwhelm the music itself. ‘Been So Long’ and ‘Luna Sea’ stand out as prime examples of well crafted songs that although they fit into the mood of the concert also entirely transcend it. Their quality allows them to stand alone, isolated from the set. It is this that makes Vetiver worth listening to.

Vetiver’s Thing of the Past is out now

Paul Bond "Today you play Jazz. Tomorrow you betray your country."
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