- As experienced by Svein Brunstad
Ebony Bones is perhaps the most chattered about act in London right now. She’s a one-of-a-kind producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with a great rhythm section and backing vocalists. Named as one of SXSW’s best new acts of 2009, her critically acclaimed debut album Bone Of My Bones is slated for release in the US later this year. Known for playing a role on the British TV drama Family Affairs, Ebony Thomas has also been nominated for The British Soap Awards’ sexiest female. And some of that sexiness, in her self-designed costumes, shined on the lucky audience this rainy Friday night.
Ebony has a punk approach to pop, and at first sight she seems like a colorful cartoon mash-up in the vein of M.I.A. or Santigold. They were eight people on-stage (ninth member and soundman was not released from customs for reasons unknown…), and with their crazy outfits and high energy it felt like Sesame Street on acid; a psychedelic Muppet show. Her band and backing vocalists were like a rainbow in back of her, and gave us a Parliament-Funkadelic moment. She sings in the style of The Slits, and early on they played hits like “The Muzic” and “Warrior“; extremely catchy songs that she performs with the similar energy of Janelle Monáe and fellow Londoner Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes. She also performed a ska/punk version of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” and a version of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” that sounded harder than Iggy in ‘69. Ebony jumped into the crowd several times, and got everybody to dance with her. She claimed it was her birthday, but in reality it felt like everybody’s birthday. I can not wait for her US release; she deserves to rule the media with her unique music and style.
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[...] This musical mystique is finally releasing her debut album, ‘Bone of My Bones,’ in the states. After playing [...]