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this would be my third show at JB’s in as many weeks, following the constantines show below and having to leave early during buried beds/american music club. i’d kind of been run down from packing all day and thought about staying in but i’ve been a big fan of EPDM for a while now and a full US tour wasn’t going to happen again any time soon, so why not. i missed anna ternheim, expecting to get there in time for lykke li’s set but instead EPDM was just getting under way. looks like they switched the set order, either due to the newfound buzz surrounding lykke li or maybe they were just alternating headliners during the tour.

i wasn’t sure if i would like a set from this tour, since i saw from the valley to the stars’ downbeat version of baroque pop as a step down from the last self-titled album. but
a sign of a great performance is if they make you like songs that you didn’t like before and EPDM succeeded in bringing the sleepier, more deliberate mood from FTVTTS to life. the band is really tasteful, bringing a smoky, jazzy, nightclub kind of feel to the songs and sarah assbring’s voice is better in person than you would think. lykke li came out a couple of times to sing too. highlights included “glory to the world”, “i can’t talk about it” and “somebody’s baby”. i was disappointed that they did a solo version of “god knows” and omitted “party” from the setlist entirely but they made up for it with an almost-rocking full-band version of “shake it off” and my favorite song of the night, a cover of robert wyatt’s cover of chic’s “at last i am free”. lykke li started her set immediately after and while i’m not as familiar with her music, it was still a fun, dancey and charming set that featured assbring staying onstage for vocals. all in all, the night’s show made me want to move to sweden.

set list (thanks infotaupe!):

how did we forget
glory to the world
i can’t talk about it
you can’t steal a gift
god knows
do not despair
somebody’s baby
inner island
shake it off
someday i’ll understand
at last i am free