Written and Photos by Poema Sumrow and Will Howley
The intimacy of the House of Blues’ Bronze Peacock was the perfect place to introduce Shallow Water and This Is Lorelei to Houston. The room was dark, slightly eclectic, and homey, with low lighting, chandeliers, and an excess of framed artwork on the walls.
To begin the night, Shallow Water took the stage, setting the scene for what was to come with This Is Lorelei. Our initial impression of their melodic and lyrical composition was a slow core, shoegaze-esque, dark ambient vibe that, pieced together, created a very enjoyable listening experience. Most of the songs were either longer than five minutes -->
like Ativan, Sadie, and Angels) or played back-to-back in a seamless fashion. This fluidity gave the impression of a continuum, as the ambiance flowed in a single journey rather than starting and stopping again. When songs would appear to be coming to a close, the band would keep the momentum going and, without skipping a beat, transition into the next song.
Most notably, Shallow Water relied on complex, unconventional rhythms and unique time signatures to create this listening experience. This method of creating rhythm is most akin to “math rock,” a genre characterized by complex, atypical rhythms and counterpoints—combining two distinct melodies with different rhythm and shape to create harmony. Notable bands in this category include American Football and close peers in the Prog Rock genre, such as Yes and Rush. Adding to the progressive nature of their chord progressions was the lead guitarist's use of ope
n tunings on his electric guitar. Furthermore, both the lead guitarist and drummer used looping to create layers in melody and rhythm, adding to the ambient nature of their performance. Their opening set was the perfect length, set the right vibe, and created just enough energy to get the audience excited for The Is Lorelei.
Nate Amos’s arrival on stage felt like your best bud grabbing his guitar and a PBR to play you some songs he just wrote. The presence of him 
and his band was comfortingly casual. We felt like we were at a dive bar somewhere north of Texas, maybe Colorado. Not much of an introduction was given before Nate jumped into “Where’s Your Love Now”—a single from This Is Lorelei’s critically acclaimed breakout album, Box for Buddy, Box for Star. It became apparent that his live performances of his songs were going to sound a bit different from his recorded versions, skewing more acoustic.
Standouts of the show included “Oh No Now My”—a standout from their recent album The Singer in My Band—“Holo Boy”—a throwback—and “Two Legs.” For us, however, the concert culminated with their performance of “I’m All Fucked Up.” This performance electrified the room as we gleefully watched Amos attempt to enunciate every word in what is undoubtedly the most lyrically dense songs in their discography. The music got everyone up and dancing, including the woman next to us, who was barefoot and in full lifeguard garb.
The concert concluded with Will’s favorite song, Dancing in the Club. Notably, This Is Lorelei’s live version of this track sounded much more like the MJ Lenderman remix than the original recording, perhaps a nod to the latter’s succession in popularity. All in all, the setlist was 18 songs long, despite earlier shows in his tour only being 10 songs long. Maye This Is Lorelei just really likes Houston. We definitely loved them!
