AlunaGeorge – Electrowerkz, London 05/09/12

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You can’t help but notice the irony waiting for one of the brightest new sparks in the ever-merging worlds of pop, R&B and electronic music whilst stood in probably the darkest venue in England’s capital. The top room of London’s Electrowerkz barely allows you to see the vague outline of your hand in front of you let alone the face of the person you’re speaking to amid much anticipation.

But it’s probably for the best that it’s so dim, really, as you can downright expect the crowd tonight to be littered with some famous faces and music biz insiders, with Koreless and Rustie to follow shortly. You wouldn’t want the stark lighting akin to something like an interrogation room if you were about to play your most important gig to date, now would you?

It doesn’t even matter if previously everyone crammed into the room had been barging into you whilst trying to carry more drinks than they have hands, because as London singer/producer duo AlunaGeorge take to the stage and launch into their most widely heard track, ‘Just A Touch’, everyone is now completely stationary and paying full attention. A song that twists 90s car-mixtape R&B through a modern filter of dub and glitch production whilst packing an airwaves-friendly chorus, ‘Just A Touch’ is the perfect means of introduction to what George Reid and Aluna Francis (yep, hence the name) do so well.

But anyone who’s even stumbled upon the pair previously would very well know this by now, and have probably spent the entire summer racking up the play count of the track. It is instead the live presence of the two that comes as a revelation tonight; the pair appearing remarkably tight and self-assured given they must only be a handful of shows young. It’s even more surprising when considering that the group were not born of any serious intent or prior experience; instead – as the most-quoted tale of modern journalism goes – they were among those many who just so happened to download some questionably-licensed software and started recording and uploading right away.

It is Francis who’s clearly the focal point of matters – everything about her tonight screams bonafide popstar, as do the slightly chauvinistic wolf whistles she’s treated to when discarding her jacket. However, it’s their posturing as a unit that sets them apart. This clearly isn’t just another producer-svengali puppeteering things with a dash of female vocals thrown on top, Francis’ super slick tones gel and blend with Reid’s crystalline electronics. And neither is Reid happy to just slouch back and let Aluna take all the spotlight, his headbopping and shoulder-swaying would not be much out of place alongside the likes of Rustie and Koreless appearing later on.

The finale track, the irresistibly smooth ‘Your Drums, Your Love’, is certainly destined to propel the pair closer to Radio 1 than 6 Music, but as their set closes, the lights come up and an already packed-out Electrowerkz starts to disperse again, it’s easy to see that they’re already halfway there.