Lake District duo Aquilo make their London debut at Soho House

“We haven’t really done a set like this before, but you’ve all been very polite, so thank you very much,” sighed Aquilo vocalist Tom Higham just as second number “Part Of Your Life”‘s final crisp notes descended on a sweltering Soho House room. Just a few minutes earlier, the Lake District duo were plumbing the deepest depths of London Grammar’s nighttime indie-soul – only with boyband harmonies permeating their throbbing beats and glistening piano chords.

Echo-drenched opener – and climactic cut on their debut EP “I Don’t Want To See It”, proved a suitably minimal affair; a theme we quickly became accustomed to, as Tom and partner Ben Fletcher picked their way through a five-track set with quiet assuredness.

“It All Comes Down To This” was every bit the softly thumping paean to breaking and boiling points in relationships, even without their usual backing band on hand to bolster the boys’s lustrous melodies. “Calling Me”, the track which first set tongues wagging in 2013, felt somehow rejuvenated, a fresher-than-ever twist on Banks’s low-key tearjerker, “This Is What It Feels Like”.

“Nice to see so many people in such a small place,” offered Ben, prior to the jaw-dropping “You There”. And no-one is under any illusions: catching Aquilo in a venue this compact isn’t likely to happen again any time soon. Candlelight flickers of piano, floated, featherlike in synchronicity with Tom’s flawless, tender caress of a chorus: “You there/You’re better off here”. It’s their standout track and a festival-worthy curtain-closer.

A warm-up – in every sense of the phrase - ahead of tonight’s show with Arthur Beatrice but there was enough in those pristine harmonies alone to suggest Aquilo can fill the niche in-between SOHN and The xx. Hell, they showed more gusto than Romy and co., even in this, the most staid of central London’s rooms.

Setlist:

I Don’t Want To See It
Part Of Your Life
It All Comes Down To This
Calling Me
You There