Reviewed onMonday February 8 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Devon Welsh, the frontman and founder of Canadian electro-indie outfit Majical Cloudz, is surprised that the duo has a following down under. Despite the cheers, whoops and even banter with individual members of the audience, there’s an underlining astonishment and incredulity. Welsh works hard to hide it with wry quips and shy smiles, but it’s there nonetheless. And listening to his mesmerisingly meditative and melancholic vocals, it all just adds to the beauty of the show. It’s hard not to be enthralled.
Opening the show is Anatole. In many ways more beats-conjurer than musician, the Sydney-based artist effortlessly hypnotises with a crackling, conceptual and almost ethereal take on electro-cum-hip-hop. Accompanied by a video background of shifting geometry, forms and planets, his bag of tricks includes samples of jazz, Destiny’s Child and rap, and it quickly has the audience relaxed and reclining on the floor.
Majical Cloudz are in the country for Laneway Festival, but it’s hard to be convinced that open-air jamboree is a better fit for their synth-driven, cathartic pop than Newtown Social Club. Here in snug intimacy, their music positively electrifies.
The twosome take to the stage with ‘Disappeared’, the opener from last year’s sophomore release Are You Alone?. It sets the tone for what’s to come. The richness of their studio recording is pared back, and producer Matthew Otto’s sonics slowly uncoil allowing Welsh’s raw and unflinching baritone to take centre stage. There is an unerring deference to Joy Division, Vangelis and Radiohead thrown in the mix, which is particularly tangible on ‘This Is Magic’. ‘I Do Sing For You’ is quietly tender, as is the heart-swelling ‘If You’re Lonely’, which Welsh assures has a happy ending. However, ‘Childhood’s End’ is the show-stopper with its narrative about innocence lost: “Someone died, gunshot right outside / Your father, he’s dead”.
It’s an hour-long gig, and with two albums’ worth of material to choose from, Majical Cloudz’s setlist feels masterfully crafted, particularly as there is no encore. Brooding, direct and personal, it is a commanding performance.
