Vagabon bursts with potential at SXSW 2017

The tequila-fuelled buzz that hazes over Downtown Austin like a horde of bumble bees on the piss subsides – for just a short while – during Vagabon’s hushed courtyard set. The New Yorker put out her debut record, the sharply crafted ‘Infinite Worlds,’ just last month, and her lyrical quips (“I’m just a small fish,” and “I’m sorry I lost your cat, it’s just that I was so damn mad” proving highlights) are still brand new and boxfresh. She’s an introspective performer, is Lӕtitia Tamko, and along with the rest of her band, Vagabon’s gaze barely leaves her snarling guitar. Most of the time, the inward-looking nature of the set proves a good fit for ‘Infinite Worlds” self-explanatory heart, and leaves room a-plenty for Tamko’s dynamic vocals – all yelping octave jumps and twisting melodic skips – to shine instead. At times, the crashing welly of ‘The Embers’ and and the smirk-filled wit of her debut don’t quite connect with full force, but then again, ‘Minneapolis’ crashes and rages with full unleashed ferocity, and proves the set’s highlight in the process. An all-too-short show, bursting with potential and fuelled by one of this year’s early stand-out debuts, Vagabon is still a “small fish” in an infinite pond - perhaps not for much longer, though.