Daughter: the magic of live at Middle Farm Studios

An intimate, intense live show, in which it seems that blurry memories and elusive songs mix with landscapes full of colors and a present that becomes increasingly solid. On the occasion of the first anniversary of their latest album, “Stereo Mind Game” (review here), it seems like a play on words but in reality the album was released in April 2023, Daughter released Live at Middle Farm Studios, a live performance of seven songs. The session sees the trio of Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella return to the intimacy of Middle Farm Studios near Dartmoor, England, where much of “Stereo Mind Game” was recorded, to perform some songs live including singles “Be On Your Way,” “Party” and “To Rage,” as well as “Future Lover,” “Dandelion,” “Isolation” and “Neptune.”

The final result is a half-hour video in which images almost stolen from the studio merge with live parts in natural environments with vivid colors. Their first album in seven years, “Stereo Mind Game”, was chosen as album of the month by the Rough Trade Shop. The trio's only live performance to support the project's release took place in the indie chain's flagship store in East London. After more than a decade of depicting the darkest emotions, Stereo Mind Game is their most optimistic album yet. In the years since the release of their Ivor Novello-nominated soundtrack, 2017's Music from Before the Storm, Daughter have moved away from their initial base in London (Aguilella moved to Portland, Oregon, Haefeli to Bristol, England) and dedicated time to their own projects (including Tonra's 2018 debut solo album, below the pseudonym of Ex:Re). However, despite the physical distance, further aggravated by the pandemic, Daughter continued to meet and write together. It is not surprising that connection and disconnection permeate the twelve songs of “Stereo Mind Game”, addressing the theme of distance from loved ones and from oneself, both literally and figuratively.

Produced by Haefeli and Tonra, “Stereo Mind” Game was written and recorded in various locations and now, with this video project, it is further told “from the inside”. The London string orchestra 12 Ensemble which is present throughout the original album, with orchestration by Josephine Stephenson, with a brass quartet warms up the sumptuous “Neptune”, one of the vocal and interpretative peaks of the album. In this video session the pieces arrive even more direct, in their essentiality. The sparse, skeletal and dark sound of Daughter, the one from the beginning of their journey, has been gone for some time: now the sound is even more layered, dense, full and intense. What always remains intact is the high emotional and melancholy level that embraces everything the band creates. It's worth taking the time to listen, watch and dive into the clip at Middle Farm Studios.