Christie Malry's Own Double Entry is a furtive cinematic tale of accountancy, auto asphyxiation, urban disaffection and murderous terrorism. In short, precisely the sort of film which demands a soundtrack written by the man responsible for such breezy nineties summer hits as 'Unsolved Child Murder' and 'Light Aircraft On Fire'.
Christie Malry…director Paul Tickell clearly thought as much when he asked former Auteur and some time Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder mainstay Luke Haines to pen the tunes for his harrowing contemporary thriller. This evening represents the fruits of this working relationship, comprising as it does an advance screening of the film, followed by a Luke Haines performance, partly made up of songs from the soundtrack.
As Haines takes the ICA stage tonight, resplendent in trademark raffish white suit and surrounded by three bowler hatted instrumentalists, resembling something uncomfortably close to the Clockwork Orange 'Droogs', it becomes patently obvious that the unsettling tone of malevolent evil established by the earlier film screening is set to continue throughout this evening's performance.
Luke Haines' music is, of course, perfectly suited to such imagery. The retro analogue synth and numbingly chilling cello which serve as backdrop to the typically knowing sparkly pop lyrics of the 'Discomania' trilogy all recall moments in the film which perhaps relied too heavily on the painfully evocative nature of its soundtrack.
It is perhaps in the slower, more considered acoustic ballads that Haines really comes into his own however. Final song 'Future Generation' and the stirring 'England, Scotland, Wales' (modestly touted tonight as a new national anthem) betray a rare ear for melody and succinct lyrical sense.
Everything about tonight's performance exudes bittersweet sarcasm and darkly hilarious cynicism, and the ICA has a large part to play in this. The stark and simple primary colour low level lighting gives Haines a slightly demonic quality during tonight's more intense moments, whilst the unsettlingly intimate nature of the venue pulls his every last bitterly complacent breath under the microscope.
The crowd, apparently made up of Haines' personal friends and Christie Malry…cast members (Black Box Recorder cohort John Moore, Nick Moran and that bloke off Game On et al) lap it up as one would expect, all adding to the sense that by close of play every person in the room has been privy to Luke Haines' own private and illicit world࡚dark, funny and ultimately inspiring place to be.
