Missy Lorelei has a 'triumphant' night out at The Arches.
Swedish glitch-pop quartet Little Dragon’s breakthrough came after a series of near-misses and collaborations. Thankfully, 2011 has finally been their year with the success of their third album Ritual Union.
Theirs is a strange mosaic of sounds: soul, dubstep, electro and world music influences all rub up together- too off-kilter for the mainstream; too poppy to be out-and-out “weird.”
It’s a happy contradiction and one they seem proud to embrace.
Sassy frontwoman Yukimi Nagano is the band’s secret weapon—she simply oozes charisma, stalking across the stage in her vest-dress like a feral cat, spitting out vocals, teasing and soulful.
Live too, their music is a more savage beast than on recordings: “Ritual Union” for example, somewhat coquettish on the album with its pulsing rhythm, transforms into a combative anthem with additional percussion from Nagano adding a tribal element.
Autumn single “Brush the Heat” even has echoes of 808 State in Erik Bodin’s skittering drum patterns and Tiggerish keyboard player Haken Wirenstrad’s almost Moogy flavours.
But it’s not all about the bombast. If “Brush the Heat” is the Hacienda’s lost soundtrack, then “Feather,” from second album Machine Dream, is surely Café Del Mar: a tentative, blissed-out ballad which causes a mass outbreak of snogging in the packed-out audience.
A triumphant night then, with smiles and kisses all round.
Now, if they could just bottle it…
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