Live Review: Safia, Akouo, Kucka - Mojo's Bar

Kucka opened the set with Laura Jane Lowther on the vox and electronics, providing the trio with otherworldly sounds and sampled industrial synths. Featured in their set was the newly released song Unconditional, which had ethereal qualities mixed with a qausi-hip hop beat and soul-infused vocals that conveyed a certain calm, allowing the crowd a brief moment to lapse and relax before thrashing to Akouo's ecstatic set. Akouo whipped into it after a brief haircut off-stage. Whether this influenced or aided his musical ability we shall never know, but what we do know is that he maintained the fervour created by Kucka and built on the excitement through his own beats.
Akouo commenced his set with remixes of Childish Gambino's 3005 and Flume's Bring You Down, with particular emphasis on the latter, which demonstrated Akouo's skill in producing entertaining tunes. Akouo's solo presence on the stage sparked intensity when his mind was focused on producing his sensational beats, with the crowd reacting fervently to his performance, as exemplified by a fan who claimed to have travelled all the way from their home state of Tasmania to watch his gig in a humble Fremantle bar.
Safia emerged onto the stage immediately after Akouo, providing a performance that displayed a unique mixture of electronica and soul. The most prominent and obvious component in the group's musical strength is the resilient vocals of Ben Woolner, which acted as the core to which the group's soul influence emerges from. The trio played popular tracks including remixes of The Aston Shuffle's Tear It Down and their own Paranoia, Ghosts & Other Sounds, songs that allowed them to showcase their intrepid mixture of soul and electronica to the crowd with clarity. Listen To Soul, Listen To Blues provided the most kick to the band's performance, as it alternated between contrasting gentle verses and manically rave-able choruses. The effect of Safia's performance was perhaps captured best in seeing the way that the front of the crowd moved, which could only be described as euphoric.