IC3PEAK | 170 RUSSELL
Roughly a month ago, mid doom scroll, IC3PEAK’s unplugged set popped up on my feed. It had been a few years since I had checked in on the duo, and after 9 minutes and 42 seconds, I had fallen right back into their grasp. The set, filmed on a train carriage in which the passengers are a participating choir, with Anastasia and Nikolai donned in their matching tracksuits and stark white angel wings completely changed my understanding of who they are as a group.
When I listened to them when I was younger, their gore-soaked beats and illustriously haunting vocals boiled anger in my bones that satisfied deeply, mixed with being politically embroiled, it hit every mark for me. But seeing them so raw, hearing Anastasia’s voice so stripped and wailing with unforgiving beauty and taking the time to let their lyrics sit in, I understood this new perspective. Their lyrics, poetic and harrowing, detail stories of abuse, of trying to understand where you stand in a world that wants to cram your head under a boot. They don’t point fingers, name names, but rather use the feelings of isolation, shame and obscurity to create music that is truly tender and transformative.
Photo Credit: Tristan Skell
I have grown obsessed, once again, and so I decided that I must see them live - and if by some miracle, they were playing at 170 Russell in a matter of weeks.
And so here I am now, trekking down the narrow stairs as whirring obfuscates the room, and a lone soul takes a spot to the right of the stage. Brown, messy hair covers her face, a scarf slung effortlessly around one shoulder and a pink guitar caressed in her hands. To the side, a white trestle table is scattered with a keyboard, various plug ins and a laptop. Katie Dey’s songs traversed through many different worlds, some being soft ballads that her vocals soared through and others were layered, gut wrenching, tangled with complexity.
From the back of the room, my eyes were locked to the stage for the entirety of her set, watching her body emphasise every note that rang out, utterly mesmerised by her undemanding presence. She utilised her own voice to create room shaking breakdowns as she shrilled the guitar strings, a vocal modulator jarring phrases such as “Do you owe me strength” settled in my stomach. As Tristan ran back from the photo pit, we shook each other with excitement as if we had just discovered gold, and I have been preaching the Katie Dey gospel ever since Sunday night to anyone who will listen. Absolutely go check out her most recent track “Stoicsim”, and be prepared to fall down the rabbit hole of her discography for some of the most interesting beats I’ve had the pleasure of listening to for a while.
Photo Credit: Tristan Skell
IC3PEAK’s set began with a soft, synthetic droning that circled the four walls of the basement venue as fans started to slowly chant for the duo’s presence. An agnosing 15 minutes drawled by as warm lights begin to pierce the stage, almost like an illusion of pillars. In the dark, more layers on layers begin cascading one another as broken whispers scatter from side to side. Suddenly, rolling drum beats mark the beginning of Марш, an anthemic track that has afflicting lyrics such as “I’m looking for my home and roots, just like you / It’s like I’m a stranger in my own family”.
Anastasia’s stage presence is hauntingly beautiful, she twists and contorts herself as the trembling bass rattles the floor. She had her hair tied up in one long braid, whipping it around as she staunched across the stage, her voice lully from sweet whispering to relentless wailing. Static hummed eerily across the crowd as the track “Kiss of Death” hums. Nikolai embodies his music, his whole body leaning into every perceivable frequency as if the sounds were coming from his own self. Bright, white strobes embolden the stage, making the pair's movements even more jarring and surreal.
Roughly halfway through the set, the lights dimmed as the two sauntered off stage and the crowd cheered ferociously when they came back in their now iconic angel wings and an acoustic guitar in hand. They started with “Like moon, like sun”, and the audience was hypnotised, Anastasia’s angelic voice filled the whole room as goosebumps rolled down my spine. This was easily the best live set I have seen all year, and since then I have not stopped thinking about it. The gospel-esque nature of the songs really resonated with me, they amplify the contextual poetry intertwined in their music, grabbing me by the throat and stringing me along by every chord.
Photo Credit: Tristan Skell
Of course the show ended with their most popular tracks, Grustnaya Suka and TRRST, and as all the unique individuals filed out of the venue, I found myself softly smiling from the back of the room. It warms me that even though the world outside, surrounding us and impeding on all my peers, in a tiny basement room like this, some strings and softly spoken words can be a respite. It’s safe to say that “Coming Home” has been on repeat in my earphones ever since that night.