Friedrich Sunlight at Lokalhelden, Augsburg

I first heard Freidrich Sunlight play at The Lexington last year; it was a great night of music with Louis Philippe also playing, and The Monochrome Set headlining. Jane Barnes, the promoter extraordinaire, had invited me along and I don't think I realised just how much enjoyable songwriting I'd hear that night.

That was when I met Kenji, the velvet-voiced singer of Friedrich Sunlight, and was delighted to hear that he was a fan of The Chefs. There was no way I was going to refuse a trip to Augsburg to support the band in Lokalhelden, a chic cafe just around the corner from where Kenji and Till live.

Their upstairs neighbour very kindly lent me a guitar to play, and the audience was great: no chatting, just listening and smiling, with a smattering of children who were music fans in their own way.

It was a such a treat to be able to see the band play up close. Every song was a favourite song, even the brand new ones that they are writing for their next album. The band consists of bass, drums, electric guitar, keyboards and Kenji on vocals and acoustic guitar, and the songs are beautifully arranged so that there is space for everything to happen. I don't think I have ever seen a band that has tamed its muso-egos to such an extent; it's definitely not the Anglo-American way to stand aside in the arrangement and wait for your space. No posturing or posing for the audience: every musician is concentrating on making the song sound good- and the arrangements are to die for. They stack vocal harmonies like pop angelic choirs but never overdo it. And the songs! Nothing lasts over three minutes forty five: they are perfect pop songs, with shades of The Monkees, The Beach Boys, 1960s French pop, Dusty Springfield... all with lyrics sung in German in Kenji's sweet voice. They were completely inspiring. I have made some phone films which I'll upload when I'm home, apart from the one where I started singing along to a song that I'd never heard before, just because it was such a gorgeous song. I don't think anybody needs to hear that tuneless wailing!

They played a well-deserved encore, having battled the sweltering heat for an hour to deliver the most perfect jewel of an evening. Best night of 2018; thank you so much for inviting me! X
(catch them in Berlin tomorrow, Sunday, supporting The Zombies)