Debut bodes well for second album
Hifi Sean & David Mcalmont/the Gates of Light
The lockdown pairing of Hifi Sean, aka Soup Dragons frontman Sean Dickson, and David Mcalmont is a glorious thing, Dickson’s eclectic soundtracks providing an atmospheric springboard for Mcalmont’s stratospheric soul vocals. Little wonder that many of their songs are positive reflections on life, from the tower block pop of Beautiful via the omnichord trip-hop of Happy Ending and the disco testifying of The Fever to the soulful house of All In The World and the ecstasy of The Skin I’m In.
All were present in a delicious extended set as the duo made their Glasgow debut under disco lights, embellished by Mcalmont’s
fancy laser glove, dappling the upper pews of St Luke’s with brilliant red flecks.
The lightshow augured well for the arrival of their second album, already in the bag and awaiting release. The numerous new songs in the set leaned heavier into electro pop, dance music and even Jamaican dancehall vibes to which Mcamont is also well suited. He raised his tambourine in invocation on the sleek electro soul of Sun Come Up, with his magnificent falsetto spiralling upwards. The epic rave backdrop of Sad Banger contrasted elsewhere with some fabulous mirrorball pop .
Celebrate offered wise words and a blend of out and out Erasure-like pop and Simple Minds’ Euro synth odyssey, while the synth orchestra was out in force on an encore torch ballad before bonus track, Bunker to Bunker, took the show to curfew.
Opening act Gates of Light are another vocal/electronics duo, comprising A Band Called Quinn’s Louise Quinn and former Teenage Fanclub member Finlay Macdonald, playing together for the first time here with a soothing, seductive ease in front of a backdrop of mesmeric landscape and abstract visuals.