Back in 2009, it looked like Kid British might make it. The Manchester six-piece were a sort of kitchen-sink Rizzle Kicks who memorably sampled Madness on track Our House is Dadless, but the breakthrough never came. After going solo in 2012, vocalist Adio Marchant has been recording as Bipolar Sunshine, releasing an unhurried series of soulful, genre-melting EPs on his own imprint, Aesthetic.
Despite early patronage from Spotify and iTunes, two gimlet-eyed content providers who recognise Marchant’s crossover potential, it’s a slightly thin crowd in Glasgow. Undeterred, the charismatic singer convinces us to cram toward the stage, and within three songs he’s pressed almost everyone into service on backing vocals. A dreamy, pulsing digital fantasia with an appealingly ragged vocal hook, Deckchairs on the Moon is further enhanced by the participatory “ooo-wahs”.
Bipolar Sunshine songs often sound delicate on record, but Marchant’s three-piece backing band jack them up into sonic monsters. Alongside a lockstep duo of bass and drums, his producer and collaborator Jazz Purple toggles between guitar and thumping a keyboard/laptop stack. Crisp elements of funk, hip-hop and electropop are periodically roughed up via black boxes, and the brisk 45-minute set is tent-poled by a cover version of Mad World that incorporates a bassline so malevolent, it makes you fear for ears.
There is the occasional roughshod electronic overlay, but Marchant has an intuitive melodic sense that permeates his songwriting. The moments where his industrious band peel away to leave only his voice are by far the most affecting; Where Did the Love Go and Love More Worry Less successfully combine heartbreak epics with a DIY ethic. It provides a positive forecast for his debut album, due later this year.
- At Think Tank, Newcastle on 31 March. Box office: 0871 220 0260. Then touring.
