M. Haiux / Merope, Sy ; Gigs, Unitarian Church, Shrewsbury, 06/12/2025.

PROLOGUE

The eighth and final event of Sy ; Gigs’ 2025 season, subtitled ‘Music for the Curious’, featured a solo set from the Liverpool based guitarist and composer M. Haiux followed by the international duo Merope featuring the Lithuanian singer and kankles player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė’ and the Belgian guitarist and sound artist Bert Cools.

Sy; Gigs is the brainchild of Chris Taylor, who began the project with the aim of bringing genuinely alternative music to Shrewsbury.

The Sy: Gigs strand embraces various forms of experimental music with jazz just one of the elements in an eclectic range of events that also incorporates folk, electronica, new age, contemporary classical and avant pop / rock. A number of events are double bills so a single evening of music may encompass several of these. It’s a series of events that is likely to appeal to listeners of such BBC Radio 3 programmes as Late Junction, Unclassified and Night Tracks.

Taylor has done a terrific job in building a loyal following for his events, which he presents at two Shrewsbury churches, the 100 seat Unitarian Church and the larger St. Alkmund’s Church, which can accommodate 240. More recently Sy ; Gigs have begun to host matinee events in the Darwin Room at Shrewsbury Library.

M.HAIUX

M. Haiux – acoustic guitars

The first act to take to the stage was M. Haiux, aka Matthew McPartlan, a Yorkshire born guitarist and composer now based in Liverpool.

On his Bandcamp page Haiux describes his music as; “Creaky front porch melodic primitive guitar from Liverpool.

He has released two recordings, both issued during 2024. “Summer Nights and Still Water” is a full length album that initially appeared on cassette. This format is now sold out but the album is still available digitally.

December 2024 saw the release of the EP “The Cold Nights of December”, essentially a Christmas record. Haiux describes the release as “a collection of fingerstyle acoustic guitar instrumentals that aim to bring warmth and tranquillity to the festive season and beyond”. Again the physical version of the release, this time a CD, is sold out but once more the recording is still available digitally – and it does sound good all year round.

We were to hear selections from both recordings this evening, beginning with a segue of a tunes, the first about a “19th century fictional doctor”, followed by “River Ribble”, a track from the “Summer Nights” release. As Haiux has stated he plays “fingerstyle acoustic guitar” in a broadly folk influenced style and places a strong emphasis on melody. It is however far from ‘primitive’, Haiux is a highly skilled guitarist who uses his thumb to create bass lines, there’s always something of interest going on when he plays.

“Weirdo”, also from the “Summer Nights” release, saw him moving to a different guitar with a different tuning. The inspiration behind this tune, the struggles of the creative outsider to fit into mainstream society, echoes some of Chris Taylor’s own concerns and was very much in accord with the Sy ; Gigs aesthetic.

Some tunes were written about specific locations with a personal or family significance, one being about Haiux’s grandparents’ house, while “Vincent Street” was a dedication to his late brother in law.

From the December EP “St. Joseph” was a composition that placed a strong emphasis on melody, but was a piece that was simultaneously rich in detail with several rhythmic undercurrents bubbling beneath the superficially calm surface.

A quiet but immersive set ended with a new, as yet untitled composition.

I very much enjoyed this set from M. Haiux who presented his performance with self deprecating Yorkshire humour and very much bought into the Sy ; Gigs spirit.

Even more important was the quality of the playing from this highly skilled guitarist. After hearing so much ambient music and electronica at previous Sy; Gigs it was good to hear a performance that was purely acoustic – just one man and a guitar, six strings, ten digits, one brain, no pedals, no effects.

This was a performance that was very well received, suggesting that many other audience members felt exactly the same.

M. Haiux’s recordings are available from his Bandcamp page here;
https://mhaiux.bandcamp.com/music

MEROPE

Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė – vocals, kankles, electronics, ocarina
Bert Cools – electric & acoustic guitars, electronics

Merope is the international electro-acoustic duo of Lithuanian singer and kankles player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė’ and the Belgian guitarist and sound artist Bert Cools. The duo’s Shrewsbury date was the last in the UK before they returned to the continent to continue their tour of Europe. This evening’s show followed an appearance in Manchester the night before.

Merope’s sound has its roots in the traditional folk music of Jurgelevičiūtė’s native Lithuania. In addition to singing she plays kankles, a Lithuanian folk instrument resembling a zither, a close relative to the Finnish kantele and to similar instruments found in the Eastern Baltic area. Estonia, Latvia and Russia all have their own variants.

But Merope is far from a folk act, traditional music is just the foundation of a group sound that also embraces ambient and electronica, courtesy of Belgian guitarist, soundscaper and musical experimenter Bert Cools.

Merope has released five albums to date, the latest “Vejula” (meaning ‘spirit of wind’) appearing in 2024. The duo describe their music as “blurring the boundary between the organic and the artificial”, a neat summation of the dialogue between Jurgelevičiūtė’s voice and kankles and Cools’ guitar and associated electronic technology – although the singer has her own electronic hardware too, the acoustic / electric roles aren’t quite that clear cut.

Introducing the performance Chris Taylor promised us a single unbroken set with songs seguing into each other during the course of an hour long set presented as a kind of immersive ‘folktronica suite’.

The duo’s acknowledged influences include Shahzad Ismaily, Laraaji and Bill Frisell, but during the opening section with its blend of ethereal wordless vocals and equally other worldly guitar soundscaping I was reminded of Enya as much as anything else.

The use of pre-recorded sounds featured as part of Cools’ sonic arsenal, but there were occasions when these were too dominant, drowning out   Jurgelevičiūtė’s voice at times. He also deployed live looping techniques to further sculpt and layer his sound.

I did however love the delicate and sometimes ethereal sound of the kankles, with Jurgelevičiūtė‘variously playing three varieties of the instrument, all of different sizes. These were variously plucked and strummed, often simultaneously,  and occasionally the body of the instrument was used as a form of percussion. Combined with her voice the various kankles provided the ‘organic’ element of the duo’s music, although Cools did contribute a passage of acoustic guitar that temporarily harked back to the previous set from M. Haiux.

The music sometimes had a devotional, hymn like feel to it, well suited to the setting of the Unitarian Church.  Jurgelevičiūtė’s vocals were essential to this, with some passages sung in her native language, a contrast to the often wordless vocal sounds. At one point she also played a small flute like instrument, an ocarina I think, it was difficult to be certain from my position in the balcony at the back of the church.

The music appeared to be welling up towards an electronic climax when Jurgelevičiūtė’ vacated the stage with her mid-sized kankles and walked to the back of the hall. As Cools switched off all the electronics she walked slowly back to the stage playing purely acoustically. It should have been one of the defining moments of the set but was spoiled when four members of the audience decided to make their exit and brushed past her, totally puncturing the atmosphere and ruining the moment. Maybe they had their reasons – last bus, last train, emergency phone call or whatever – but all I could think was “how bloody rude!”.

After Jurgelevičiūtė’took her place back on the stage the duo played a final song from the Lithuanian folk tradition featuring voice and guitar only. It was a beautiful end to a remarkable set that was rapturously received by the Shrewsbury audience.

Merope have developed a unique sound and it’s one that has brought them a considerable degree of success. I’d previously heard them on Radio 3 and was looking forward to seeing them play live at a gig that Chris Taylor informed us had been some three years in the planning.

As immersive as it was there were still the inevitable longueurs that seem to come with ambient and electronic music and sometimes I found the electronic element a bit overbearing. My favourite moments were the acoustic ones featuring the sounds of voice and kankles. A unique and rewarding musical experience nevertheless.

Merope website here;
https://meropemusic.com/

Chris Taylor’s account of the evening, sourced from the Sy ; Gigs Facebook page, appears below;

A deeply still, healing evening.

Saturday night felt like something rare.

A room held in quietness, a space distilled.

An audience settling into breath, together, to experience music that asked us to slow down and listen differently away from the noise that is the constant in our lives these days.

Matthew opened the evening with beautifully subtle, immersive guitar work, gently guiding us into his world and influences, each composition introduced like a small doorway into a heartfelt memory and landscape.

Merope presented a continuous piece, a journey that unfolded with sensitivity and depth. It felt less like a performance and more like a collective experience. Many said afterwards how emotionally moved they were… how necessary this kind of stillness felt, that a healing had taken place.

These evenings are special and should not be taken for granted in a world of speed and distraction.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in that shared quiet.

And thank you to the artists for creating such an open, atmospheric space.