Twin Shadow

Forget the comically frightened character from the video for the superb single "Slow", and while you're at it, forget anyone who tells you records shouldn't be made with certain sounds any more (the reference here being the '80s), because in this case that would be a mistake. George Lewis Jr, aka Twin Shadow, twenty-six years old, Dominican, brings to Berlin his 2010 debut album, "Forget", which landed deservedly and directly on every best-of-the-year list.

Tickets had been sold out for more than a week, and probably everyone who attended this night at the Magnet will be back to see Twin Shadow again, who returns to Berlin for another show in May. This was, in fact, a live show well above expectations: every song from "Forget" showed even greater compositional solidity and emotional intensity than the already excellent album versions, thanks to a new and surprising rock-tinged shape with sharper, less muted contours. And all this without ever sidelining, even for a moment, Lewis's splendid, warm, physical voice with its soul lineage - an intimate crooner with tremendous evocative power.

Twin Shadow takes the stage sporting a decadent look, backed by a drummer, a bassist and a girl on synths; the show's positive tension never lets up, running through a series of sonic choices that, while not exactly original, are certainly delivered with great class, allowing every track to stand out with its own particular mood. Starting with "Tyrant Destroyed", the album's opening track, which begins quietly and understated, before moving into the delicate, romantic eighties stride of "I Can't Wait", all the way to the danceable funk exuberance of "At My Hells", truly irresistible in its syncopated groove.

In live performance every element of the sonic fabric gains strength and genuine drive: the splendidly melodic choruses, often no longer sung in falsetto but pushed more directly to the fore, the voice breaking painfully on the highest notes, the elegant bass runs and the synths that make the atmosphere densely melancholic and retro. The whole band's work is excellent, particularly, for rhythmic precision, that of the drummer.

Twin Shadow talks to the audience, jokes around, incredibly self-confident, and sings, we repeat, in masterful fashion, delivering one after the other the lethal one-two punch of "Slow" – a perfect cross between New Order and U2 – and "Castles In The Snow", the latter dedicated to his twin sister, who lives right there in Berlin and is present at the show. He only whispers the first chorus of "Slow", unlike on the album, favoring the splendid crescendo of the second part, while "Castles In The Snow", among the best pop songs of last year, is a breathless sprint.

The show's closing is finally reserved for "Tether Beat", perhaps the darkest track on "Forget", with a synth line of dark tonality acting as a watershed before yet another gripping melodic hook. What more is there to say? For this once, welcome back, the 80s.

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