Gold & Youth

Recent Arts & Crafts signees Gold & Youth spent their 40-minute set exploring the electronic side of pop, using keyboard-driven tracks to entertain and dazzle. The Vancouver quartet played songs from their recently released debut Beyond Wilderness, and successfully transitioned them from studio to stage. The songs were lengthy and featured shifting textures that kept the audience's focus throughout the set, as no one was ever sure what would change next and when. The set climaxed twice, once with album opener "City of Quartz," that kept the audience captivated due to the whimsical keyboard hook and the lovely duet between singers Louise Burns and Matthew Lyall, and the second time with the blossoming "Come to Admire," led by Lyall's haunting vocals, spanning both lower and higher registers and remaining strong throughout. The electronic drums were a nice touch and added to their ephemeral atmosphere, and the fact that the music remained dance-y despite the slow tempo is a testament to the band's ability to craft poppy hooks.