Opal Sky and Mr Goodkat

ELECTRO PROG
(Picture: Opal Sky)
Kicking off with Mr Goodkat was always going to make the next band look more professional. ‘Eh, this is our new song, um . . . I can’t remember what its called,’ mumbles the singer, while outside the ladies toilets, Opal Sky are doing their vocal warm-ups.
Where Mr Goodkat sound metallic and disorganised, Opal Sky are focussed and fully charged - delivering their songs in a style that somehow manages to be alternatively turbulent and elegant. ‘Dead and Gone’ stood out as a potential single, all fluttering keyboards and teasing guitars, but their sound is defined by the full-throated vocals of Karina Hay, purity and sensuality found in the voice of a dirty angel.
Clearly feeling in the company of friends, she removes a piece of chewing gum from her mouth and wraps it in her set list, before chatting about what she’s been watching on TV and her dentist appointment which jarred with the poignant beauty of the music. Sometimes it’s best to let the songs do the talking, because in this case they had a tugging urgency that demands all our attention.
(Anna Docherty)