Young Fathers at MENT Festival, Ljubljana, review: Compelling, visceral, vibrant

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By the end of the first song there’s dancing. By the end of the second there’s a full on mosh pit. Forty-five minutes later, as a coruscating rendition of "Shame" breaks down into a blitzkrieg of drums, there’s a full on stage invasion and the band wave away the concerns of security, helping people climb up.

While Kayus Bankole is still prowling the stage bare chested, Graham ‘G’ Hastings and Alloysious Massaquoi are enveloped by a sweaty, heaving mass, gleefully bouncing around as the song’s coda rings out. “What you do to feel better? / What you do to feel good?” they sing repeatedly, the answer blindingly obvious: watch Young Fathers live.

Tonight is the Edinburgh band's first proper gig before the release of third album Cocoa Sugar and a full UK tour in March. We’re treated to only one new song – the taut, downtempo "In My View", a half-sung half-spoken musing on not taking things at face value – the trio instead running through highlights from their first two albums and Tape One and Tape Two, the mixtapes that saw them acclaimed as one of the UK’s brightest new bands.

Their show remains a strikingly stark, no-nonsense affair; the rhythms clatter against synths and shards of noise, all bathed in a sparse, monochrome light. A live drummer adds to the booming depth of their music, but it’s the interplay between the three main players that really stands out.

Flipping effortlessly between Motown-sweet soul and venomous blasts, watching them weave their magic is as spiritual as it is thrilling, and they attack songs with gusto, giving the hard-hitting tracks an extra edge; "Rain Or Shine" sounds positively unhinged with delirium, while the stomping social commentary of "Old Rock n Roll" is transformed into a colossal, slow-motion rave up.

Pop has always tried to move minds as much as limbs. As the synths buzz and the drums snap, the words hit just as hard as the music, uncompromising truths backed by a sonic blaze. But their distillation of so many influences – rock, pop, hip hop, Afrobeat – into a unique vision is their greatest strength. Compelling, visceral, vibrant: Young Fathers are all these things and more, a band rising to the challenge of troubled times while maintaining a razor-sharp edge.