It was a dark and drizzly night. In the warmth of Belgrave, a crowd stood under the tantalising red and blue lights anticipating the arrival of Boxed In. Minutes later, moving its way along the walls, fiercely agitating the scanty flame of life in the hearts of the audience, the electropop oozed.

Students seized the front of the hall, while a rabble of forty year old men with seemingly identical beards tapped their right feet in unison to ‘Jist’, a track with undeniable funk and groove.

I was pleasantly surprised by Oli Bayston’s spirit; the main man behind Boxed In was far more mirthful than the smouldering images of him online had previously suggested. This was particularly obvious during ‘Underbelly’ when every member of the four piece was giving it their all. Despite the fact Bayston was only playing pulsing piano chords, he was bashing those keys as if it was all his body was made to do, and it was satisfying to see such passion.

Bayston’s vocals sometimes took on a Morrissey quality that was unique to the live performance. However on a couple of tracks, particularly ‘London Lights’, Bayston’s vocals weren’t quite in tune, but this was compensated by ‘Mystery’, where his confident falsetto shimmered over the electronics.

What was particularly noticeable about the whole evening was how perfectly balanced the sound was. Although few know the intricacies of this exact science- myself included -the band created a bubble of sonic perfection. By the encore, the audience threw inhibitions to the wind, and ditched the foot tapping for complete dancing, as encouraged by the strobe lights.

There were yelps of glee when Bayston announced that the final song would be ‘Melt’, which was frankly a full on banger.

Emma Dutton

(Image: Hunger TV)