York Hall, London
With an impressive third album under their belts, Portico Quartet kicked off their UK tour at the 1,100 capacity York Hall, a venue in Bethnal Green more commonly used for boxing.
The sold-out gig marked a significant shift in their career, for which they have shown confidence and courage at every phase. The acoustically balanced breeziness of their early busking sessions led to a stint as the "not-quite-jazz" band that young jazz fans flocked to hear. Bigger gigs and broader festivals signalled their emergence as a local world music band, signed to Real World, no less.
Their latest evolution – more trancey and electrified, with a strong stage presence and pulsing anthems such as City of Glass and Laker Boo – means Portico Quartet stake claims to territory occupied by Radiohead, Cinematic Orchestra and Efterklang.
But if you label them as, say, "electro-ambient-improv", it doesn't do justice to their mesmerising melange of rhythms, timbres and tunes. With double bass, drums, percussion, saxes and samplers, they make a soundworld that is original and inviting, played with flair and commitment.
The looped, hocketing rhythms that drummer Duncan Bellamy coaxed from his complex kit were reminiscent of early (lo-fi) Kraftwerk and the organic techno of Brandt Brauer Frick. Bassist Milo Fitzpatrick was the calm, virtuoso centre of a storm of cascading, treated sax (Jack Wyllie) and rattling note patterns made by Keir Vine, who has replaced founder Nick Mulvey.
For the first encore they were joined by singer Cornelia for Steepless, a thoroughly contemporary ballad with accompaniment that mixed cool Nordic atmospheres with jittery percussion.
Yet it is the group's unforced instinct for compositional structure and catchy hooks – planned and improvised – that gives them the edge and warmth to appeal to a wide audience. Great live sound, too.