Last Friday, the 19th century home-turned-venue Historical Monument 157 (hm157) was host to several eclectic electronic acts including Litronix, Geneva Jacuzzi, and Future Shoxxx — our attention was focused on the haloes emanating from CELLARS, the synthpop project of singer/keyboardist Allene Norton.
Despite technical difficulties that plagued the first several minutes, Norton worked quickly with hm157 staff to reroute her signal chain through a DI box. She was not shaken; Norton traded banter as she worked, even quipped about her debut as a noise artist. At once, dense synth waves flooded the monitors and stirred the audience back to life as Norton lit a quick cigarette. And she tore through the cold with songs from her 2015 debut Lovesick like "Computer Simulation" and "Beat Of Our Love". Glowing from the backdrop of Wes Johannsen’s visuals, she stepped down from the stage for a brief moment to connect with her friends. Norton’s electric youth had bested a performer’s worst nightmare, and primed us for the release of her sophomore album Phases. – Ryan Mo