Written by Cassia Helme for Nottingham LIVE
HMV in Nottingham's Victoria Shopping
Centre has been supporting local music and local artists for the last
few months, and their support extends to actual performance
opportunities for local musicians on Thursdays (now from 5-6pm). One
such musician graced the HMV 'stage' to treat us to an hour-ish set
on the 30th January, his name... Oscar Speed.
At 20 years old, what struck me
instantly about Oscar was his personality and his stage presence.
He's confident but not arrogant, and is very smiley, which helps the
audience warm to him. He looks dapper, dressed in a casual suit-like
get up, and looking clean only helps with the musical 'pop'
aesthetic. The opening number of the afternoon was an original
entitled Hold You which is sweet and gentle, but with lively
pop features. It's a great start to the set, and with a cheeky grin
and happy delivery, the audience were already sold.
Oscar Speed - Photo by Cassia Helme
Following his opening number with a
cover of Mayer Hawthorne's The Walk brings an air of 50's soul
to the set, and with juxtapositional lyrics of heartbreak combined
with the joyful pop melodies it brings a playful edge. His vocals are
subtle and not overworked, which suits the song well, and fits in
with his aesthetic. He follows with another cover; Treasure by
Bruno Mars. He sings the song really well, and his acoustic delivery
of this pop number brings out elements to the song such as the
sweetness of the chord progressions and his vocals bring out some
more romanticism in the lyrics.
He is also joined on stage by a second
guitarist, David Newton, who supports him. They are both playng
acoustic guitar, and when David plays fingerstyle over Oscar's
chords, it works well. Sometimes when they played chords together,
they both subsequently become a little heavy, and cloudy, and a
little more consideration to the arrangements of the guitars could
bring out the more subtle features of their songs, which would really
support both the performer's talents.
Another original follows with
'Butterflies' which is another sweet song about love and romance,
which tends to be Oscar's favourite topic. He follows this with a
great cover of Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell which brings
some 60's rock and roll to the mix, which suits his voice well, and
brings another change of pace to the gig. They seemed to really enjoy
performing this one, and the audience reacted really well to this.
The audience remained keen to see more
for the next cover which was Happy by Pharrell Williams. For
this number, Oscar sang some really lovely falsetto vocals at points,
which were confident, strong and clear, but were lost amongst the
guitars a bit. Standing closer to the mic would have balanced it out
better, and helped us hear his fantastic voice. The guitars were a
little out of sync in this number, and they both seem to harness
different strumming patterns. Again, just a little arrangement and
practise would iron this out completely. But having said that, the
audience was loving it, and were happily obliging during the lyrics
“clap along if you know what happiness is to you”, and seemed to
be saying that Oscar Speed provided the happiness in that moment.
The next few numbers really showcased
Oscar's vocals, proving them to be strong and really quite gorgeous
in the higher registers as well as the lower ones. His vocals are
clear, smooth and executed superbly. His originals are well written
with considerations being taken to melodic structure and chord
progressions, and they fit the pop mould very well, with cheeky
lyrics and a smiley delivery, it's impossible not to like Oscar
Speed. Finishing the set on an impromptu encore desired by the
audience, they pull out a cover of This Love by Maroon 5 which really
ends the set with a bang, with everyone dancing and singing along.
Oscar commands the room and supplies a fantastically entertaining
set, and I look forward to seeing how his career develops in the
future.
Oscar Speed - Photo by Cassia Helme
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