Welcome to the latest in a week-long series of spotlights profiling the bands and artists performing at the Boston & Beyond party at SXSW, a collaborative effort between Berklee College of Music and Vanyaland. Our second-annual event — and Berklee’s 10th SXSW party overall — goes down Thursday, March 19 at Austin’s Brush Square Park, 409 East 5th St., next to the Convention Center. The party is co-presented by Berklee Alumni, The Red Room @ Cafe 939, and Heavy Rotation Records, and is all ages and open to SXSW badge holders. The public can email sxswrsvp@berklee.edu to attend free of charge. An oyster bar will be provided by Island Creek Oysters, and VanyaRadio will be streaming all the performances. More info and music links can be found here.
Radclyffe Hall, 5:30 p.m. set time
Each song from Boston electronic-pop quartet Radclyffe Hall possesses a portal. On the exterior is plenty: engaging pop music warped along the senses, appropriate for dance parties, radio play, and the on-the-go mentality. But a quick step inside each track reveals its density, layers of beats and synths weaving in and out, flowing like a current through frontwoman and keyboardist Dhy Berry’s introspective and personal lyrics. It’s no coincidence that the Radclyffe Hall live set up is reflective like a mirror — two keyboardists and percussionists positioned opposite each other — with the best vantage point, for sound and emotion, right in between.
Last year the band released their debut EP, OMG, and were quickly signed to Cleopatra Records. Wrote the Boston Globe at the time of the EP’s release: “‘Dare to Dream” and ‘Love Me Tonight’ are instantly engrossing electropop tracks with hooks that punch well above the band’s current weight class.”
That weight class is constantly elevating. And we are thrilled to align with Radclyffe Hall at SXSW, where they perform in the second, V:Music-flavored second half of Boston & Beyond, tucked within an electronic-pop mini-showcase alongside Night Lights (4:45 p.m.), Yellerkin (6:15 p.m.) St. Nothing (7 p.m.).
One of Vanyaland’s most-beloved new bands to come out of Boston since our May 2013 launch, Radclyffe Hall is ready to take their portals to a global audience. And this is the way inside.
Follow Radclyffe Hall on Twitter @ radhallmusic
