There’s an atmosphere of excited anticipation as the Main Space in RichMix fills up. “Busy” I write in my notebook only to cross it out a few minutes later to write “packed”. The bean bags, colourful lighting, tea-light lit tables and huge patchwork flag draped behind the stage combine to make it a little bit festival, a little bit Shoreditch and a little bit church hall. It’s the first time that Chilean singer songwriter and accordionist Pascuala Ilabaca and her band, Fauna, have come to England.  You get the sense that people aren’t exactly sure what’s going to happen but they’re sure it’s going to be good.

There’s a hush when Pascuala comes on stage. She’s dressed with a nod to traditional Chilean outfits, hair falling in two long braids down her back. She begins to sing acapella, a song about being woken up by a full moon, and the audience are spellbound. There’s a passion and integrity to her voice, accordion and keyboard playing that extend to the rest of the performance. The band joins her part-way through the song which bursts into energetic Cumbia at their arrival. The songs that follow are a seamless fusion of folk songs mixed with jazz, rock and pop.   

I think that it would be fair to say most of the audience fell a little bit in love with Pascuala over the course of the evening. She is the epitome of composed sensuality and sexuality but allied with innocence and slight vulnerability. She stumbles through explanations of the songs in English before switching to rapid Spanish. If she hesitates over an English word, the audience nearly fall over themselves to supply her with it.  There’s a wonderful warmth between the band members too. Skilled musicians, they look like people who take their music seriously, but not too seriously. The saxophonist’s passionate solos deserve a mention, as does the guitarist’s endearing tendency to clap along with the audience at the end of a song.

After the gig I ask Pascuala how the reception as a whole has been for her first time in the UK. Not surprisingly, she is very positive. She loves the open-mindedness of the people here and the mix of cultures. She says it’s so nice to share her music and if you open up your heart to people when you are playing (she mimes putting her hands to her chest and opening them) then people open up their hearts in return.
It turns out that the big patchwork flag is the symbol of all the different indigenous peoples of Latin America. I ask her about bringing their music to the wider world. Her brow furrows. “We’re not necessarily bringing the music but rather the message of respect,” she replies. “It’s a sort of vindication. For a long time indigenous people have not been respected. But we want to change that and say that they have to be cared for.”

Just before she went off stage Pascuala had said, “I hope you feel happy and sad all through the concert. I hope you feel lots of feelings. That’s why we came.” The audience leaves buzzing.

Pascuala played at Rich Mix, London 18 November 2014