exmagician

"All lower case, all one word" is how one correctly scribes the name of this Northern Irish duo.

Known for their previous incarnation as Cashier No.9, Belfast’s Danny Todd and James Smith have embarked on a new sonic venture. Touring their album Scan the Blue, exmagician just made its first landing in London.

The tightly packed basement of east London’s Sebright Arms was the right setting for the band's deep, brooding grooves. Todd soon took the opportunity to bemoan the standard of toilet graffiti at this Bethnal Green boozer - nothing on a par with the unrepeatable expletives the band found in Cardiff’s Moon Club the previous night.

For those familiar with exmagician’s sublimely gentle Smile to the Gallery, the first half of this short set may have felt incongruously up-tempo. The Rot Sets In rolls and recalls ‘90s band Gomez, while the baggy Desperado sounds worthy of a remix, something Todd and Smith are apparently exploring for this and the rest of Scan the Blue. It’s a track that would not suffer from being distorted further for live performances. The same goes for the punchy Job Done and, throughout most of the gig, there’s a sense of the epic in this subterranean setting.

The rolling drums and feedback of Place Your Bets brought the band's one-hour set to a climactic end.

Equally catchy and dreamy, exmagician have more than a few tricks up their sleeve. Appearances on larger stages than this await the band this summer.