Photo: Chloe Newman
"We're wearing matching outfits for the first time since we were three-years-old," beams Miranda Kilbey, shooting her twin sister Elektra a knowing sideways smile. The sense of occasion is lost on no one this evening. Gigwise have alone have been begging the heavens for Say Lou Lou's debut for at least two years, maybe three.
Now it's here - immaculately formed, sheer bliss. To launch the LP with their biggest London headline show to date, only pure perfection will do.
As the duo stride on stage to screams of adoration only choked by the heart rising to the back of the throat, it's clear that what Say Lou Lou have is followers, rather than fans. That can only come from a band with a complete package - an aesthetic and a clear vision that underlies all that they do. It's something that gig-goer Theo Hutchcraft from Hurts knows all too well, and it's present on stage tonight.
The past three years have been well spent fine-tuning the idea of Say Lou Lou into something so magic yet so real and so right, that only they can do this.
From the pulsing operatic pop epic of 'Everything We Touch' to the inescapable dance-floor rush of 'Games For Girls' and swooping forlorn 'Angels (Above Me)', the Kilbey sisters emphasise the true warmth and life-affirming nature of their sound, as their performance emphasises their telepathic twin powers to make all in the room feel as if we're riding on the same thread.
To be in the world of Say Lou Lou is to be embraced. Songs of love and heartache rarely feel this right in the world of pop, but they've managed to marry universal truths with spine-tingling melody and groove without ever compromising credibility. 'Peppermint' aches with grace, 'Nothing But A Heartbeat' encapsulates all of the love and life in their sound in one sweet climax and you'd struggle to find a more perfect piece of torn elegiac pop than 'Beloved'.
Sealed with the pop-noir kiss of 'Better In The Dark' and you're left mesmerised by the fine workings of not a 'girl band', not a 'pop' or even simply 'electro' act - but the finely crafted experience of Say Lou Lou, an art like no other.
Say Lou Lou played:
Everything We Touch
Wilder Than The Wind
Games for Girls
Glitter
Angels (Above Me)
Hard for a Man
Peppermint
Julian
Nothing But a Heartbeat
Skylights
Encore:
Beloved
Better in the Dark
