Son Lox and Natalie Prass at The Earl, Atlanta, March 22, 2015

Now that SXSW is over for this year, the great migrating herds of musicians that were previously heading toward Austin are now dispersing, picking up gigs where they can, and last night, Son Lux played at The Earl with Natalie Prass opening.

I got to The Earl at about 8:40 (doors opened at 8:00) and the opening act, Brooklyn's Stranger Cat, was already performing.  Stranger Cat is the electro-pop duet of Cat Martino and Sven Britt, but the emphasis was a little too much on pop than electro for my tastes (their set included a faithful cover of a Sia song).  

After Stranger Cat, Natalie Prass didn't waste much time taking over the stage.  Prass has been on an upswing as of late.  As she told last night's audience, she used to play The Earl a lot back when she used to live in Nashville and this was something like her seventh appearance on the Earl stage, although I managed to miss all six of her previous shows.  But recently, she made the most of her SXSW appearance, earning rave reviews from NPR and this from StereoGum: 

Natalie Prass’ SXSW debut was absolutely packed. She was squeezed onto the inside stage at Austin’s Cheer Up Charlie’s late Tuesday night, and it became readily apparent that it was much too small a space for an artist who has picked up as many fans as she has over the past few months. But even with the cramped quarters, Prass made the most of it, sweating along with the crowd under hot stage lights to turn in a performance that captured the magic of her self-titled album and, in some ways, even improved on it.

Her set ranged from country-rock to folk- and jangle-pop and points in between all of her own.  For some reason, she often sang holding a plastic Godzilla model in her hand, even holding up two Godzillas during the climax of one song ("I never double G'ed before," she noted).  When singing her hit It Is You, she stepped across the stage monitors and worked the lip of the stage like a torch singer in one of the night's best moments.   It was a totally charming and engaging performance, and I for one will have no complaints if she plays The Earl seven more times.

Son Lux started his set not long after Prass wrapped up hers.  I liked the brisk clip at which the evening was moving along; on a Sunday night, I'd rather spend time hearing the bands than watching set-ups.

This was NY-based Son Lux' first-ever show in Atlanta.  Front man Ryan Lott has no apparent ties to Georgia that I know of and has obviously taken his own sweet time in getting down here to perform, but for some reason both his parents and his piano teacher were in attendance at last night's show, Odd, as Lott was reportedly born in Denver.  What's more, guitarist Rafiq Bhatia's grandmother was at the show, too.  

In any event, Son Lux put on a dramatic and exciting set.  Lott's cinematic approach to songwriting and performing includes lots of unexpected turns and twists - you never know what's going to happen next, just like with the baritone sax breaks in Easy.

Lott's dramatic, almost operatic approach to music reminded me at times of Shearwater, although his voice is completely different than Jonathan Meiburg's, and at other times of Alt-J, due to their mutual fondness for shape-shifting,  Son Lux' music has variously been described as both post-rock and trip-hop, both of which I think miss the mark.  Their sound is beyond labels, and with its constantly shifting textures and rhythms, any time you think you've got it pegged one way, the rug gets pulled out from beneath you.

In all, it was a great and eminently enjoyable set, and included several new numbers such as the jaw-dropping opener This Moment Changes Everything to Easy, the second or third song of the set. While I had thought that Natalie Prass had charmed her way into stealing the show last night, Son Lux reclaimed the show title with audacity and drama.