For an act whose brand of indie-electronic was a relatively late arrival on the scene, Maps has persevered through the recent indie rock drought through its refreshingly strange yet ever-relevant sound.

Nestled deep in the bat caves of Cargo, James Chapman – the man at the mixer – breaks into the melodic-organ number ‘You Don’t Know Her Name’. The steady bass and booming gospel overtones are something to nod along to, but not quite enough to dance to. Essentially, it’s a little safer and a lot less edgy than I’d like it to be, but judging by the conventional 30-40 year-old crowd gathered here, it seems that this is the audience that Maps has attracted from its debut days.

However, as the first bars of current single ‘I Dream Of Crystal’ break through, the crowd becomes utterly hooked and goo-goo eyed. With its soaring strings, whimsical bells, and pounding chorus of shrilling echoes, Maps’ new track does a 180 from past singles, setting the pulse beating rapidly for the rest of the show.

Different in style to the singles off the Mercury-nominated We Can Create, Maps’ sophomore set seemingly deserves more attention than the first. Chapman’s apparent ability to enhance his music while keeping his award-tipped foundation is what sets him apart from other shoe-gazing acts that have crashed and burned in the last two years.

Further new material showcases the edgier road Maps is taking. The experimental ‘Let Go Of The Fear’ is filled with resounding cowbells and beat juggling, reminiscent of The Rapture and Hot Chip.

Maps closes the gig with the hyper electronic build-up number of the whole set, ‘Love Will Come’. The track is an explosion of frantic melody, hollering echoes, and driving bass making it the perfect endnote to makes fans linger for more.  Though regularly put on par with Sigur Ros and My Bloody Valentine, if this set proves anything, it’s that Maps is certainly drifting further away from the safer boundaries of the debut LP.

While I’m not sure if we’re still stuck in the ‘shoe-gaze’ era or we have in fact reached the ‘nu-gaze’ age, it really doesn’t matter. Maps’ new Turning The Mind set is redefining whatever state of shoe-gazing we’re at in a delightful way that we’ll be sure to hear more of.

Tags: Cargo, Maps, Shoegaze

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 00:24 and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.