Melbourne singer-songwriter Riley Catherall plays at Rise@Bluebird Bakery tonight. Jodie Nicholson next up

Australian singer-songwriter Riley Catherall. Picture: Riley Catherall website

MELBOURNE singer-songwriter Riley Catherall brings his poetic sincerity and alluring live show to Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, tonight at 7.30pm.

In mid-2024 he released his sophomore album, The Light, The Beautiful Liar, whose singles Bark At The Moon and Coming Down, Coming Over highlighted a collection of songs focused on the kind of love that desperately tries to endure the unwelcoming stark light of the morning.

This followed his 2021 debut When I Go, whose songs, such as the singles Mother Please, Vacant Lot and Leave Me Out To Dry, addressed themes of leaving, losing love and finding somewhere to settle down.

He has accompanied and collaborated with Kasey Chambers, Charm Of Finches, Alan Fletcher, Imogen Clark and Loretta Miller. Now he returns to the UK and Europe with band in tow to promote his newest collection of songs, From A Borrowed Room, featuring B-sides for The Light, The Beautiful Liar.

Jodie Nicholson: Songs of escapism, nostalgia, self-reflection and changes of heart at Rise on Saturday. Picture: Jodie Nicholson website

On Saturday, Under The Influence presents the “powerfully intimate, achingly human” songs of Hurworth-on-Tees musician and producer Jodie Nicholson. Doors open at 7.30pm for the 8.30pm gig.

Drawing inspiration from Daughter, Lucy Rose, Warpaint, The National and Laura Marling, Nicholson combines introspective lyricism, brooding piano, subtle electronics and delicate guitars to explore themes of escapism, nostalgia, self-reflection and changes of heart.

“I use brooding chamber-pop and synth-laden alt-pop to navigate many of the different relationships we have in our lives: friends, family, relationships with ourselves and, more personally, my changing relationship with music,” she says.

North Easterner Nicholson, who studied Printed Textile Design at Leeds Arts University, has performed at All Points East, Wilderness, Y Not, Liverpool Sound City, Cambridge Folk Festival, Focus Wales and Live at Leeds, as well as sharing stages with Emeli Sandé, Bernard Butler, Nerina Pallot, The Howl & The Hum, Luke Sital-Singh, Tom Rosenthal and Siv Jakobsen.

Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.