written by Chris Familton

This was to be the night of music high on artistic cunning and grandeur with three acts willing to push boundaries of standard song structure and delivery.

Locals Kyu impressed with their angelic harmonies that sounded at times like an offshoot of the recent Bjork/Dirty Projectors collaboration. What made Kyu so appealing was the duo’s multi-tasking skills. While both singing layered intricate and intertwined vocal lines they also busied themselves with keyboards, xylophone and percussion, often all within the same song. A fit of giggles from Alyx Dennison broke the ice with the attentive audience and showed it isn’t all serious art, there is a great deal of fun amid the stately compositions. Apparently a debut album is out in a couple of weeks and from tonight’s set it promises to be an absorbing listen.

High Places are making their second trip down here and this time brought with them quite a different show to the one we saw on their previous visit. Last time round the duo were hunched over various synths, samplers and a sea of cables, a decidedly electronica affair. When the OAF curtains parted it the first thing we saw were guitars and amps and a simpler electronic setup. With their new album High Places Vs Mankind in tow it is clear they have rethought the way they contextualise their music and decided on a different approach, one that seemed to connect more effectively with their audience.

Mary Pearson’s vocals were a treat now able to emerge from behind the previously dense percussive bed of music. With sparse guitars ringing out simple riffs it felt like she could open up and express herself more with playful and at times Blondie-esque melodies on songs like The Longest Shadows. The guitars and the mood they created were akin to The Xx with distant references to New Order, both in the order of notes and the sonic effects employed.

The rhythms and beats that were the hallmark of earlier High Places was still there but they were less tribal and more club based in a solid and heavy way. This was music that is clearly designed to work equally effectively through a loud PA or in a pair of headphones.

Jamie Stewart rounded out the triumvirate of duos with just himself and keyboards/percussionist Angela Seo comprising the current Xiu Xiu lineup. This was the most sonically confrontational set of the evening with Stewart keen to show the full range of sensitive/abrasive that his music contains.

Stewart’s voice is unique creature. When he speaks he sounds like a humble mild mannered guy but get him singing and he possesses an uber-emotive style with a sense of drama like a hyperactive David Sylvian draining himself of every last drop of both his positive and negative energy. He yelped, moaned, barked and crooned his way across lyrical confessionals that seem to have no boundaries. It was intense stuff.

Percussion was used as accents rather than timekeeping and Stewart’s guitar sounds ranged from 80’s chorus effects to industrial grind and digital meltdown. There was a real sense of theatre and performance about the whole set yet the songs still shone through, especially the catchy gothic pop of particular highlights Chocolate Makes You Happy, I Love The Valley OH! and Crank Heart. Xiu Xiu rounded out a night of exceptionally literate, abstract pop music that had the audience both thinking and moving.