Live Review: Cloud Control

Former Australian Music Prize winners and triple j darlings Cloud Control are travelling the nation after an extended period overseas. They are in acoustic mode and in trio formation for this tour, leaving bassist Jeremy Kelshaw at home. The simple set-up of drums, acoustic guitar, keys and their ubiquitous harmonies create a surprisingly lush sound. The smooth sounds of Dojo Rising soothe the packed and rowdy room. The chorus sweeps everyone up and we sing along, “Give it to me easy/Give it to me hard” dreamy and melancholy. Cloud Control evoke a wonderful hypnotic quality to their work, a credit to the percussion of Ulrich Lenffer, whose relentless grooves maintain focus and drive in their songs beneath the building melodies. Promises particuarly benefits from this with an instantly danceable slow groove. Every “Ooh” and “Ahh” in their songs (and there are a lot) is sung by the crowd with gusto, but when Promises begins, the audience go wild. They perform as a beautifully terrible and out-of-tune choir on the floor at the three-quarter mark, hands in the air, belting the voiceless bridge.

Happy Birthday (no, not that one) sees Heidi Lenffer taking lead vocal duties, and her voice is so beautiful and other-worldly, echoing Beach House's Victoria Legrand. Another example of their perfect mix of rhythm and dreamscape is Gold Canary, unfolding its beat as the harmonies echo around the room. The solo segues into Butthole Surfers' Pepper, a surreal and funny moment, and finally they bring back the haunting closing canon. Their triple j Like A Version favourite Pursuit Of Happiness shows up in all its awkward glory. Newies Scar and Dream Cave get the crowd swaying and even a few lighters up in the air. Introduced as one of the first songs the band had written, Buffalo Country is still a crackin' tune, full of alt-country guitar licks.

By the end of the set, the room is past capacity. “It's our last song... Maybe we can get some crowdsurfing in here?” lead vocalist Alister Wright half-jokes, and it is somehow possible. There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight soundtracks the crowdsurfing, its gorgeous hip-shaking, stomping beat causing a rush to the stage and sweaty bodies happily swaying. These songs need nothing else, the strength of writing is proven again and again across the night and supported by their solid performance.