Ms Mr at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire

New York duo Ms Mr took to the stage of Shepherd’s Bush Empire before a crowd of excited fans before fulfilling all expectations and pleasing their audience. Their debut album Secondhand Rapture was released in May this year and despite making an unremarkable dent in the charts they nonetheless managed to recruit a group of loyal followers to pack out the century-old venue. Mixing their self-proclaimed ballads with more upbeat-danceable songs, their inoffensive pop was brought to life by two other musicians for the live band. The drummer was a great addition, bringing to life the thumping beats striking their way through tracks such as “Fantasy” a pounding and dramatic pop song, and “Bones” the epitome of their darker, gothic side. Just as large was vocalist Lizzy Paplinger’s beautiful voice. She hit all the notes as perfect as those on the album and perhaps went even further. She sung the way that you could tell her hand had crafted all the lyrics. It was disappointing, however, that some of the synth couldn’t replaced with more live instruments which would have given the set more variety compared to the studio versions. Despite the limited number of songs form one album, an injection of Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know “was a stunning cover. Turning it into a Ms Mr ballad, it sounded like it could have been a beautiful original were it not for obviously British lyrics such as “summat” and “settee”. One of my favourite parts about the show had to be Paplinger’s multicoloured hair which glowed green under darkness as though it were covered all over in green fluorescent protein. It was also sweet to see Paplinger herself glowing with glee at the thought of playing Shepherd’s Bush Empire. She could not stop smiling all the way through, even as she bellowed her biggest notes. When the audience joined in for favourites, and especially their final song Hurricane, she looked as though she was about to wet herself with excitement. Unlike the lyrics in Fantasy, it really was all Ms Mr wanted it to be. No encore was performed as the two-piece explained that they were no Beyoncé... yet. With a voice so huge and a pop-style that is easy to enjoy and doesn’t perplex or alienate the listener, it is not out of the question. It also helps to have that “independent woman attitude” which bounces off Paplinger, especially when she dedicated a big “Fuck you!” before playing “Think of You” to all the exes audience member.