PHOTOS: Alice Phoebe Lou | 4.17.24 @ The Basement East

Alice Phoebe Lou
w/ Sam Burton
The Basement East; Nashville, TN
April 17, 2024

Photos by Elizabeth Marsh

Based in Germany by way of South Africa, indie pop singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou has been making music for more than decade, and has had a prolific string of independent releases, both solo and with side project Strongboi, especially over the last five years, which has featured four full-lengths (including two in the same year), a couple of live records, and some fan-favorite singles. Though 2019’s Paper Castles helped broaden her audience, it was 2021 followup Glow that really first caught our attention in a major way, and Lou’s more recent fifth album Shelter, which arrived last year, might be her best to date, honing the singer’s forlorn, confessional, layered and captivating fusion of indie pop, neo-folk, jazz, and alt rock.

Though she’s been playing shows around the globe for years, and has especially been performing more stateside over the last few, it was only late last year that Alice made her Nashville debut, for an intimate show at City Winery. We missed that one, so we were determined to catch her return, this time for a sold out show at The Basement East with Sam Burton! Playing to a packed room of diehard fans, the singer’s set was heavily centered around Shelter, as she played all nine of the record’s excellent tracks, many at the start of the show, beginning with dreamy and propulsive “Halo” then shimmering ballad “Shine” and soulful and earnest confessional “Open My Door,” saving hypnotic and electro-laced title “Shelter” and upbeat indie jam “Lose My Head” for later in the night. Lots of Glow favorites peppered the set too, like psych-pop title track “Glow,” the forlorn “Lover // Over the Moon,” and set closer (and standout) “Dirty Mouth,” with a couple songs as well from Child’s Play, popular non-album singles “Touch” and “Witches,” an intimate new tune played solo on piano, and even a cover of Gordon Lightfoot classic “Early Morning Rain.”

A remarkable live performer, Alice and her band sounded phenomenal throughout, and packed as the room was, she possesses a unique ability to make her performance feel so intimate and personal and one and one, working through so many heartfelt and raw songs with uninhibited earnestness. For as passionate a following as she seems to command, it’s shocking that she’s not an even bigger artist yet, but given the power of this performance a lone, we have no doubt she’ll be selling out The Ryman and beyond before long. Check out some photos from the show as well as the setlist below!

All photos by Elizabeth Marsh

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Setlist:

Halo
Shine
Open My Door
Touch
Angel
Only When I
Glow
Hammer
Early Morning Rain (Gordon Lightfoot cover)
(New Song?)
Velvet Mood
Lover / / Over the Moon
Lately
Dusk
Silly
Shelter
Underworld
Lose My Head
Witches
Dirty Mouth