Here at the Underworld, things are decidedly… cool. Call Me Amour have dropped in for their one and only UK headline date of the year, which naturally sold out before you could snap your fingers, and we’re a little intrigued about what an evening with the guys could hold ahead of their run supporting Mallory Knox next month. What we get is very convincing; not a long set, but more than enough to convince us that Call Me Amour are emerging as a force to be reckoned with.
Strings and silhouettes signal their entrance as phones raise into the darkness. The entire event seems to be broadcast live on socials of choice by most of the crowd. A jolt, a fizz, and ‘Happy Hell’ slams like an avalanche as the big opener. Within seconds it’s obvious that they’re too big for this cellar. Their high musical altitude is maintained by a constant stepping bass as they slide into ‘Blackout’. “I’m depressed, I’m a mess, how are you?” Singer Harry Radford widens his eyes, his stare sarcastic, a long, gliding power chorus backed with sprinting drumbeats. “This is outrageous, man…” he grins in mock surprise at the size of the crowd. ‘Tourniquet’, their “very first single”, emerges slower and heavier than we remember but sparks a joy of recognition, its screaming echoes and cuteness cutting through the density of the bass, commanding an admirable devotion as we wave our arms as one.
Their take on dark electronica is a shot of adrenaline straight to the arm. ‘Good Days’ bursts apart to reveal a metal core, molten and sweet, dragging in drum and bass to provide sharp edges. Radford proves himself to be a very hands-on frontman, jumping into the crowd to enjoy ‘Chasing Bugs’s thunderous intensity, the moodiness of the eighties goth tint at the edges of the song partially erased by the sheer friendly bonding under their noise. “I can literally feel you guys, feel the energy,” he exclaims before ‘IMFKD’. It’s slower but we embrace it, thanks to its central honesty. Despite the cold burning electronica, they know how to do a raw, grating chorus that hits deep inside. He punches down to the air and we rise to it, enraptured.
A long pause with ambient mountain noise and a pulsing white heart splits the evening. ‘Bloom’ provides a stalking NIN energy that shatters into shards of melodic euphoria, with a scream and a bouncing electronic undertone that drifts into a light trap beat. The live innovation is much appreciated; Call Me Amour are putting a lot of different things into their sound and it’s working for them. Covering the Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ might be an easy win, but it’s fun, a little drum and bass metal moment that adds to the party vibe. “We’ve come to the end of the evening my friends,” explains Radford. It’s only been an hour, and the night is still young, but they finish on a banger. ‘Girl On The Wall’, “about a magical trip I had to Amsterdam”, starts a rising petrichor clap to introduce this dance number that embraces contradiction in its simple lines and simultaneously complex instrumentals.
One of the things Call Me Amour demanded in their pauses for chat was that we leave with a smile on our face and they’ve got it as they strut offstage. We forget for a few minutes that these guys are still rising stars, such is the scale of their music that resonates out from this cellar show, and this small glimpse into what they’re capable of proves that Call Me Amour is a name we’ll be hearing much more from the future.
KATE ALLVEY