Tonight’s sell-out gig at London’s ICA is one of a series of low-key gigs dubbed as the ‘Four Cities’ tour (a concept of which involves returning to play the same cities in consecutive months, but each time returning to a bigger venue) that sees the Leeds rock/indie quartet The Music showcase songs from their forthcoming album ‘Strength In Numbers’, their first long-player since 2004’s ‘Welcome To The North’. 

Even back when, barely out of their teens, the band released their debut album ‘Take The Long Road And Walk It’, frontman Rob Harvey, with his then trademark curled locks and bobble hat, never seemed to lack the confidence that some young performers do when performing live. Two albums and several world tours on, the guy walks onto the stage, dressed rather unglamorously in beige chinos and a black polo shirt, and sporting a skinhead, exuding the kind of swagger that is often reserved for the likes of Liam Gallagher. Surely this can’t be the same bloke who in a recent interview claimed he was shitting himself about the prospect about returning to the stage again! 

Opening newie ‘The Spike’ is a trippy affair driven by a throbbing bassline that jolts to life in the chorus while old favourite ‘Take The Long Road And Walk It’ sees the crowd respond fervently as the lead singer puts his distinctive voice through the paces, lost in a wave of raw, freewheeling psychedelia.

By ‘Freedom Fighters’, it’s clear that The Music are enjoying being back on stage as Harvey, bathed in a eerie blue light, struts his stuff around like a half-baked loon in time to Adam Nutter’s crunching Led Zep-esque guitar hook while blowing the occasional kiss at members of the audience.

A host of other new songs such as ‘Strength in Numbers’ and ‘No Weapon Sharper Than Will’ soon set about proving that the band has set its sights way beyond the critical success of their previous two albums as well as providing the fans with an insight into which musical direction they might be heading. Oddly enough though, with the impressive line-up of electronic-music influenced producers Flood and Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll having helmed the production on Strength…, I was surprised that the new tracks didn’t seem to build upon the experimental sounds featured on  the album’s predecessors. That said, the band’s performance tonight doesn’t seem to be one which opted for a stripped down, back to basics affair, with only Harvey’s effect laden vocals showing any signs of electronic tinkering.

Despite this, with oldies such as ‘The People’ and the brilliant ‘Getaway’, The Music still succeed in proving that it is possible to make guitar music that people can dance to. As ‘Bleed from Within’ draws the gig to a close in a tribal-style drum crescendo, everybody, myself included, is dancing, and I mean really dancing.