Michael Hann

A genuine oddity

<p class="p1">Ezra Furman has played some of the very best shows I've seen in 35 years</p>

issue 22 July 2017

The most compelling pop singers in music right now — at least in the branch where pop singers still play guitars — were on stage last week. The 1975, fronted by Matty Healy, finished the tour in support of their second album, a US and UK number one, with a headline show at the Latitude festival, the chosen spot for recreational drug-taking by kids who have just finished their GCSEs. Ezra Furman played his most prestigious London show yet, appearing at the Barbican as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of his label, Bella Union.

Healy and Furman are very different — the one a genuine popstar, the other off in the margins — but also defined by their similarities. Both want to speak directly to teenagers about the insecurities and unhappinesses they share (Healy, whose audience is large and fervent and young, has succeeded in this; Furman attracts a rather older crowd, who recognise and adore his musical reference points).

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