Sydney-based duo Ben Gumbleton and Sam Croft, otherwise known as the alluring live electronic duo Boo Seeka, blew Brighton away at the 2016 Great Escape and did exactly that again in the small confides of The Prince Albert. The Australian pair have been touring solidly for the last year, traversing across their homeland with headlining tours and appearances at several music festivals as well as further afield. And, while this show was not a sell out, the pair intoxicated the room for an hour with their repertoire of electronic-soul-hip-hop hybrid tracks.

Each composition embraces a journey of discovery and reflection, with singer/occasional guitarist Gumbleton immersing himself into each track as he lets the music overcome him. It’s in a similar vein to Ian Curtis of Joy Division or Tom Smith of Editors and it’s enthralling to watch. Whilst the album was released earlier this month, this European tour was instead one to support the singles and EPs. For this reason, LP favourites such as ‘Humans’, ‘Gold Sail’ and ‘Argo Misty’ were left off the setlist, with the earlier releases taking precedence.

Formed at the beginning of 2015, the pair were introduced by a mutual friend and instantly wrote the song ‘Kingdom Leader’ which was one of the set highlights as it slowly grew into a track of rich atmospherics. It may be an old song for them, but it still evidently carries a lot of meaning to the Aussies. Positioned on either side of the stage, Croft has a multitude of synths, a keyboard and electronic drums and takes care of the majority of instrumentation, with Gumbleton alone in the other half with his guitar and mic stand.

Lasting for just under an hour, the set carried variety and expansiveness. ‘Does This Last’ steadily built into layers of synthetic soundscapes with almost-conversational vocals coming from the frontman, whilst ‘Calling Out’ took things up a notch as an instantaneous bassline carried it along before a rhythmic beat cut in and lifted the song into a more inspiring tone. Inspired by DJ Shadow's album Endtroducing….., ‘Turn Up Your Light’ was then a heartfelt love song that demonstrated a rawer side to the pair’s musicianship, before earlier single ‘Oh My’ got the crowd singing with its anthemic pop chorus, melodious vibes and enthusiastic vocals. The tranquil, groove-laden ‘Calm Symphony’ was another track from the LP which made the cut and transfers brilliantly into a live setting.

Boo Seeka’s musicianship speaks for itself and the way they’re able to recreate the electronic sounds, experiment with percussion and pour all their soul and energy into their performance didn’t go unnoticed by the observant crowd.

Paul Hill

Website: booseeka.com
Facebook: facebook.com/booseeka
Twitter: twitter.com/Boo_Seeka