Reviewed on Saturday April 8 (photo by Ashley Mar)

“Neither Parissa nor I am from Sydney,” said David Ansari from the Metro stage on Saturday night. “But Vallis Alps is from Sydney.” It’s the first of two completely sold-out shows at the venue and the second-last show on the duo’s Australian tour, one that has included their biggest headliners yet.

I’m not exactly sure how these guys got on my radar, but it wasn’t too long ago. Spotify kept pushing them in my direction on various playlists, and every time a tune of theirs would come on (I’m guessing it was mostly ‘Fading’, but I’m actually not sure), I’d be lured in by enchanting vocals before the playful productions would seal the deal. So I guess I owe Spotify a ‘thank you’, but the biggest thanks obviously goes to Parissa Tosif and Ansari – both for their music and for an amazing Metro show.

The duo had the room spellbound from the minute they set foot onstage, with soaring vocals, club beats, bright synths and hypnotic visuals. Even though their second EP, Fable, has only been out in the world for less than two weeks, the crowd already knew the tracks by heart and served as an overwhelming choir several times during the night – starting with opener ‘East’ from the new EP and repeating itself on ‘Oh!’, and ‘Thru’, and ‘Young’, and… OK, you get it.

There was not a single dull moment during the 45-minute set. One of the highlights was new tune ‘Serity’, on which the contrast between Tosif’s tender vocals and Ansari’s thunderous percussion was so evident yet so perfectly symbiotic. And then, of course, closer ‘Fading’, which practically made the room explode.

My only complaint is that 45 minutes just wasn’t enough in the company of Vallis Alps – but you can’t really hold that against a band that only has two EPs in its catalogue.

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