On Tuesday, November 15th, Young Magic played for their second night in a row at Mercury Lounge, as the opening act for Youth Lagoon.

Unlike many attendees at the venue that night, I was mostly there to see Young Magic, one of the bands featured at Iceland Airwaves after winning a contest sponsored by Reyka Vodka. Even after listening to them for a few moments, it became clear why their music allowed them to win that opportunity. Their blend of trip-hop, poetic lyrics, tribal beats, and reverberating primal screams was positively moving and sexy.

The darkness of the stage at Mercury Lounge that night suited this band and their music very well. In the darkness, one could see a particularly well-cut gentleman beating the drum kit wildly (Michael Italia), a beautiful maiden howling with a tambourine and different colored guitars (Melati Malay), and the brainchild of the band: a gentleman singing poetic lyrics and mixing everything together (Isaac Emmanuel).

With the lighting the way it was and the music’s empowerment over all decipherable lyricism, it seems this band places special emphasis on their soundscapes. All silhouettes of people in the room were dancing with subdued visceral pulsations, which would only change with the sweet commentary from the crew onstage.

Indeed, the offbeat performance seemed to stir everyone in the room and effectively warm them up for Youth Lagoon. It is exciting to know that Young Magic, the members of which come from Australia, is based in New York. It will be interesting to see where they take their music and whether they add anything to it, though they seem to have etched out a beautifully unique sound already.