Review: Charlotte Carpenter captivates Roadmender crowd

The Kettering based singer songwriter is gearing up for the release of her latest EP How Are We Ever To Know which is out in June.

Joining Carpenter on Monday night were Meg Amirghiasvand - who took to the stage with fellow OhBoy! member Jay Brook - and San Antonio musician Bill Biard and his band.

While technically a home county gig, in recent years Carpenter has gravitated more north to Leicestershire rather than south to Northampton.

Despite this, fans packed into the Roadmender’s Underground room to get a glimpse of what the singer has in store with her new EP.

Opening proceedings was Amirghiasvand, who while being part of Northampton’s leading exponents of grunge infused pop, played set of slower, darker tunes, laden with guitar effects – as well as previewing a new track written for OhBoy! She was followed by Biard with a set of psych driven alternative.

For her headline set, Carpenter was joined by drummer Matthew Daly and guitarist Lee Russell.

Speaking to the Chron earlier this month, she openly admitted there’s a certain degree of heartache on her new EP.

While her music has previously shown her Americana and blues influences, her new material has a certain deeper, moodier and more personal tone.

Carpenter’s nine song set opened with tracks from last year’s EP, The Fault Line, before previewing Contracts and Am I Alone In This from her forthcoming EP.

Mid set, she joked that despite the somewhat heavy-hearted nature of her music, it didn’t always reflect her personality, explaining “sometimes the blues chooses you” before playing the song of sharing a similar name.

Fans were treated to all the tracks which will be on her new EP including Electric which Carpenter ended her set with.

Despite the turmoil which may have influenced her new music, live, Carpenter played a captivating set, perfect for the dark back room of the Roadmender on a Monday night.