Just like with fairy tales, pop songs typically follow few plot lines – jilted love, happy in love and breaking up. Of course, love is the common theme — it’s a universal feeling, but everyone feels and expresses love differently. On Sept. 18, the members of U.K. ensemble Clean Bandit brought their perspective on love to 9:30 Club to promote their latest album “New Eyes.”
Clean Bandit’s four permanant members create music best described as “fusion” — it’s difficult to put them into a specific category because two members, cellist Grace Chatto and violinist Milan Neil Amin-Smith, bring classic training experience for a unique sound. Nearly every song on “New Eyes” features a vocalist from outside the group. However, when the band tours, it brings incredibly powerful singers Florence Rawlings and Elisabeth Troy along for the ride.
Each song Clean Bandit performed dealt with love in one way or another. Its opening number, “A E,” started beautifully with Chatto and Amin-Smith’s strings before quickly transitioning into the funky electro-pop beats that got the crowd moving. “A E” deals with demanding what one wants from a relationship. “Rihanna,” a song played early in the hour-long set that does not appear on “New Eyes,” reminisces on the old days of a relationship, while “Extraordinary” talks about wanting to be the versions of yourself in a relationship.
The set flowed seamlessly between upbeat dance tunes like “Cologne” to slower songs like “Birch,” sung flawlessly by Rawlings. The band clearly wanted the audience to have fun, enticing everyone to clap and dance along. The chemistry between Rawlings and Troy was comparable to two best friends at a dance club: huge smiles on their face, dancing along to the music without inhibition.
The sold-out show certainly brought the band’s dedicated fans out, but not everyone in the audience could sing their heart out to each lyric. No matter: the dance party that ensued would turn any attendee into an instant fan. The love that the band sang about throughout the set was contagious. The closing song, “Nightingale,” turned into a two-song encore, its massively popular cover of ‘90s pop song “Show Me Love” and finally the Billboard Top 10 hit “Rather Be” (which features Jess Glynne on the recording).
Before leaving the stage, Troy thanked the crowd and said this show was the band’s best yet in the United States. The joy was palpable throughout the venue, as was the talent of the band. Don’t be surprised if this band’s popularity explodes by year’s end.
