Django Django, KOKO, London

There’s a quiet hypnosis to Django Django’s ‘Born Under Saturn’ with the four-piece’s second album loaded with swaying melody and a lyrical stare that’s hard to break. Tonight, as they headline a sold out KOKO, that subtly is done away with and replaced by a grand, glorious trance that sees all three floors of the venue firmly under Django Django’s spell.

From the sci-fi incursion of ‘Introduction’ through the marching stalk of ‘4000 Years’ until the mesmerising light show of ‘Silver Rays’, the band is in a constant state of flux. Bounding around the stage and between genre with daring abandon live, Django Django are a much more difficult beast to pin down. The material from their self-titled debut is sprawling and tonight the likes of ‘Waveforms’ and ‘Default’ are given free reign to spread out to the very tip of their potential but it’s the new material that really lights up their set. The western snap of ‘Shake and Tremble’ blazes a trail for the marching gunshot of ‘First Light’ while later on the pounding strobe of ‘Reflections’, offers a sense of gravity amidst this unrestrained flight. The story-telling lyrics and direct musical click come together to demand a reaction from all.

Django Django flirt with the ridiculous, from the ever-changing backdrop of lights and projections to the smirking pulse of ‘Skies Over Cairo’, their evening is soaked in playful confidence. This soaring assurance is passed from one person to the next, creating a chain of euphoria that pulls the capacity room into Django Django’s lush new world.

‘Beginning To Fade’ is stripped back until it exposes the haunting tale within, but even in the dark the rich theatrics burn bright. It’s a flare Django Django are unable to avoid and tonight sees band and crowd dancing in the spotlight with joyous bewitchery.