Hometown gig for Harrogate's electro-pop stars

Fresh from soldout appearances in London, hugely talented Harrogate duo Litany are returning to play a rare show in their hometown in December.
Hometown show -  Fantastic Harrogate duo Litany's Beth and Jake.Hometown show -  Fantastic Harrogate duo Litany's Beth and Jake.
Hometown show - Fantastic Harrogate duo Litany's Beth and Jake.

Presented by long-standing Harrogate independent music promoters Charm, Litany will be supported at the show at Bilton WMC on Wednesday, December 13 by another Harrogate artist making waves nationally, brilliant singer-songwriter Scott Quinn who will be playing solo piano and vocals for the occasion.The show's headliners, alternative-electronic pop duo Litany, have enjoyed a fantastic last two years.BBC Radio 1 favourites, Litany's early single Woman, in collaboration with Chicago-based rapper Appleby, earned them a Number 1 spot on The Hype Machine, followed by Work This Out which hit more than two million streams on Spotify. Earlier this year, Litany's debut EP 4 Track featuring the wonderful Bedroom made a similarly big impression while the band's music has also graced the soundtrack for TV show Made In Chelsea as well.

Beth said: “We’ve worked hard to be a good pop writers. We’ve had the best year ever and we can’t wait to play in Harrogate.”Boasting an irresistible musical mix of intelligence, emotion and melody, Litany founders Beth and Jake, both 23, have recently headlined gigs in front of audiences of hundreds on London and enjoyed their first taste of Litany fan mania.Beth said: “We sold out our last show in London but there was so much going on and my voice was going a bit.“We were excited but nervous. Scott Quinn was there, too, which was great.“We needn’t have worried. The whole crowd was singing all the songs. It was crazy.”Often compared to London Grammar, Beth and Jake formed the first version of the band as 18-year-olds; Beth went to Harrogate Grammar School while Jake went to Harrogate Gramma School and St Aidan's.They say they became “reborn” as a band when they wrote the track Slopes; it changed them and revived them at just the right time.Their well-crafted songs are true works of collaboration – Jake is the wordsmith, Beth the melody, though they tend to bounce ideas off each other both ways.A fan of The Beatles, Animal Collective and Radiohead, Jake is more leftfield and a fan of the production side.Beth, on the other hand, loves strong female vocalists such as Betty Wright and Jesse Ware.The melody on wonderful songs such as Bedroom tends to come first and the words are added afterwards.The duo take care to make the words snake along the tune to perfection with intelligence and subtly.Sophisticated on their record releases, live the sheer power and emotion of Beth's voice comes through more on stage.Whether that side of her is developed more next year when the hard-working and talented Litany already have a busy schedule of new releases and live dates planned which should see the duo playing the festival circuit is another matter.But the crowd at their Charm Night show at Bilton WMC will get the full picture when the full line-up of Litany perform - that's Beth (vocals) and Jake (keyboards and guitar) joined by Hugh MacDermott (bass and keyboards) and Michael Turnbull (drums).Charm presents Litany plus special guest Scott Quinn at Bilton WMC on Wednesday, December 13 at 7.30pm.Tickets are available at the Harrogate Theatre box office online or in person.

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