Sundara Karma, Cardiff 2023

A lot can change in the space of 10 years. Still teenagers, I first saw Sundara Karma over a decade ago supporting Wolf Alice at Cardiff's The Globe. It felt only fitting then for the band to come full circle with their own headline show to take centre stage in the same venue. 

Opening the night was the upbeat, soft melody-driven Make Friends. Through their incredibly catchy jams, the band's highly accessible music is more then enough to get fans warmed up as they blended jangly guitars and sanguine nuances in abundance. With a string of single's and an impressive live display, I'm confident they'll be a name you'll be hearing a lot more of in the coming months. 

Make Friends

Anyone might think I have an affinity with Berkshire-based bands after seeing The Amazons a day prior, but it's a coincidental treat. And as ABBA's disco grooves powered out form the speakers, the band marked their arrival in style as they wasted no time in launching in to the high octane She Said. This was shortly followed by some of their new album Better Luck Next Time track's including Baby Blue & Miss Again, the latter being a buoyant driving energy that comes to a head in a unique juxtaposition with their darker lyrical content.

It's hard to believe the band have been away from the live circuit for so long as they bring a maturity to their live performance through studio-like renditions of their hit catalogue in effortless style. 

It doesn't take singer Oscar Pollock long to get amongst the swathing hands and faces as he jumped down in to the crowd. Something that became a regular occurrence throughout the show, including a full lap of the room, balcony included as the sound technicians raced to keep his microphone cord unscathed. 

Delivering a true cross section of their EP's and album releases, the band returned to the stage for a two-track encore as ambient synth pad textures bellowed around the room. It's safe to say this a band atop of their game, and watching them grow over the years has been a great journey to be a part of. Cardiff most certainly welcomed them back with open arms.

*****