Eilis Frawley / Pink Opaque / DUCK – Hatch, Sheffield – live review
In support of debut album Fall Forward Berlin-based drummer and percussionist Eilis Frawley stops by Hatch in Sheffield for a night of electro-punk and synth-pop with local bands Pink Opaque and DUCK
Line-up: Eilis Frawley with Pink Opaque and DUCK
Venue: Hatch, Sheffield
Date: 31 May 2025
We wanted the promised rosy future of Tomorrow’s World. The one with the jetpacks, with the cities in the sky overlooking iridescent perma-sunset clouds , peace as the default because telepathy means empathy, space travel and ongoing renaissance thanks to the freedom technology gave us to be human. Instead we have ended up in a darker timeline with curated division, addiction to the performative connection of black mirrors, being priced out of basic living, live-streamed genocide and fucking J K Rowling.
Which makes it tempting, easy even, to become nostalgic. To try to go back to that time when a bright future seemed not only possible but inevitable. To look back to look forward in a different direction, here in Sheffield; in this birthplace of electronic music, in the city that shaped a scrappy DIY indie sound, the ghostly echoes of furnaces, forges, and metal mills beyond any music made.
But the easy thing isn’t often the right thing, and tonight is about being here and now. No looking back, no looking forward, but rather radical acceptance of what was, what might be, and most vitally – viscerally even – what IS. And here in Sheffield, the birthplace of electronic music, the beat still pounds like thunder. And now, is a small but mighty moment of community.
Hosting the night DUCK are first up. Playing as a 2 piece tonight we get a set of established tracks punctuated by a couple of new songs. Immediate, issue-driven, and industrial at times DUCK blend electronic and guitar masterfully into the sort of noise pop which grinds through your bones while also bolstering your spirit.
When we’ve written of DUCK before it had been of the ‘raw, dark, energy’ and that is abundant here but beautifully contrasted with the warmth they exude as people. We are asked to participate in setting a beat for New Super Power, only for the song to fall over after the first chorus. Starting over – audience handclaps and all – only adds to the feeling of us collectively making tonight together.
Most recent single Happy Back matches pragmatism with romanticism, swirling with wistful dreamy synths cut through with bold and somewhat choppy guitar. We’ve still a little while to wait for their third LP so if you haven’t already give their 2020 album There Are No Normal Conversations Any More your time (and your money too), and if you get a chance to catch them live do not hesitate to take it.
If there is more fun to be had than being handed a light up tambourine to sing along to a speeding and unhinged cover of the Sugababes‘ Overload then I am yet to find it. This is the cover, and very much the vibe, Pink Opaque bring. I am here for it.
We are swept up by the songs of robots, of paying homage to Lauren Laverne and ABBA, and the chaos of an out of control Theramin. There’s plenty of that retrofuturism lyrically and in their sound, irresistible indiepop hooks, and a groove oscillating between disco and new wave. Just brilliant.
And what is even more brilliant is that this band is still so new. This was only their fifth gig and yet they performed a fully-formed set of vibrant songs which sounded as if we’d known them for always in the best way. No hint of rehashing here, just joyful dancefloor fillers crafted from across genres and years. Again, the recommendation here is that any opportunity to catch this band live you need to take.
Eilis Frawley has found herself brilliantly, and sometimes frustratingly, hard to categorise. Less genre-spanning than either of the previous 2 bands and more genre-defining: here is really something new. Touring her debut album Fall Forward the Australian-born Berlin-based drummer and percussionist Frawley has expanded her live set up from solo to a trio giving extra dimension to the sound.
It highlights the nuance in many of the tracks from the release, the signature spoken-word and driving rhythms playfully woven with strings and synths. Live projections cast light, shadow and shape over the stage and make another subtle statement of this being art in that fullest sense: as a reflection of life with the performance a crucible for imagination and experience.
While some of the tracks could be described as experimental they never feel uncertain. What we’ve said before of Frawley still holds true: “the personal is most certainly political as she intones facts or questions or bluntly – and certainly bravely – recounts her own experiences to reflect on the broader challenges of being a woman in society, as well as the times we find ourselves living in and the ephemeral nature of modern connections. In truth there is little around which sounds like this – from the complex but clean rhythms, the melodic samples and synths building depth around the beats, and the distinctive vocal making this music seem more like a conversation than a sermon.”
The tracks from Fall Forward shared tonight lyrically lean toward exploring social isolation and trying to find where you fit through building a home for and in yourself. Like any world it has sharp edges and uncontainable frustration howled from the very core of your being, and it has softness and delicate prettiness which soothes every pain you’ve ever felt. There is gentle humour next to stark delivery, and off-kilter blends of beats with playful melodic lines.
This was a visceral performance, taking much from a stunning album, and showing Eilis Frawley is altogether one of the most important artists on the scene today.
So, here we are then. Tonight reminds us we are the future we never had. Why look back, why grieve for what was or what might have been, when we can have this beautiful, radical, acceptance of this, now.
We make our own music without the limit that comes with neatly fitting a marketing box and are better for it. We make our own community actively pursuing support not division and become the best of us in doing so. Music is never just music, and if you needed 3 artists to demonstrate that this line up was perfection.
Fall Forward by Eilis Frawley is out now.
Find Eilis Frawley: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Find Pink Opaque: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram | Bluesky
Find DUCK: Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Images: Pete Darrington
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Disclaimer: As well as being Popoptica Sarah Lay is co-founder and label manager at independent record label Reckless Yes, to which some of the bands featured are signed, or have previously been signed.
Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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