Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – Somebody Someone (the moniker for Aubrey Hays) dropped by Hotel Cafe to perform a well received set that mesmerized the audience.
The audience’s attentiveness perhaps even caught Hays off guard as they said towards the end of the set, “You all are so quiet. I mean, it’s a listening room. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Good job. It’s not every day you get to play to silence. Thank you.”
That comment elicited laughter from the audience. Now the audience was not bored into silence. During brief breaks in the music, chatter could be heard around the stage, but as soon as the music started back up the chatting ended. For those familiar with the Los Angeles music club scene, it is well known that the local music scene audience can often be heard talking well above the singing and music of the bands and artists.
It is always nice to hear the background of a song and Hays provided details about many of their songs. For example, “Big Star” was written in a “socialist song circle and is about celebrity worship and the rise of facism.” That got some in-joke laughter from the artist. “The Reason” is about “their love of music and the ability to keep doing it.”
The highlight of the set was the recently released “Better.” It is a piano ballet that shows the musical growth in their singer-songwriter skills. At Hotel Cafe, the song was introduced with the following, “I wrote it at a time when I was re-learning my worth, remembering who I was at my core.” The song started off with a dreamy sequence of piano chords that is followed by soaring contemplative vocals. “That girl is gone now. There’s somebody new.”
For the final two songs of the set, a shift was made to the guitar with the nickname of Moxy. The set ended with a whistle and a final comment, “I’ll be back. Nice to see you, LA.”
The press release had the following details about Somebody Someone, “A fortuitous move to Austin (for a tech start-up that didn’t quite pan out), they switched gears and jumped feet first into the music world full time. The past year marked a profound turning point for the artist marked by challenges related to health, gender identity, and a deeper understanding of their neurodivergence (‘I’m neuro-spicy’, they declare with a smile).”
Setlist: Shine, Big Star, Summer Wind, The Reason, Lose You, Too Sweet To Miss, Better, Free, Made With Love.
