The Magic Numbers @ Le Pigalle, London

It's easy to forget how famous The Magic Numbers have been. Their eponymous debut landed the London-Trinidad-NYC quartet a Mercury Prize nomination in 2005, and while second LP ‘Those The Brokes’ failed to make the same impact, this can arguably be put down to the growing pains of a band fighting to make their mark on a music landscape that ill suited their three-part harmonies and innocent sunshiny outlook.

Tonight's low-key showcase gig, in a central London cabaret venue, is all about third album ‘The Runaway’ - and from the moment lead singer Romeo ushers in opener ’The Pulse’ onwards, it’s clear the Numbers have taken a decisive left turn, away from the heavy hooks and towards the more tightly packed thickets inhabited by the likes of Band of Horses and Fleetwood Mac.

Ah yes, the strings. Much has been made of late Nick Drake/Elton John string arranger Robert Kirby’s involvement in the new album (it was Kirby’s final work before his death last year), and sure enough many of tonight’s songs are augmented by a four-piece string section. They swoop ably in and out of Angela and Michelle’s harmonies and add emotional gravitas to new tracks ‘Dreams of a Revelation’ and the quasi-Medieval ‘Restless River’.

The band look and sound more confident, more relaxed than in recent years – carefree, even – and it suits them. Giving three quarters of the new album its first run around the paddock, the Numbers pepper the set with a healthy handful of old tunes. ‘Take A Chance’ pops up early, Michelle piling into the bass notes, and a dazzling 'I See You, You See Me' reminds the cheery crowd why they came here in the first place, Angela’s voice dipping, soaring and taking hearts to mouths along the way. (They encore with ‘This Is A Song’, which earns a huge cheer and much dancing, but it feels gauche compared to the lush, affecting new material that’s gone before.)

As the night progresses, another new element swims into focus: drummer Sean has apparently been bingeing on rocket fuel and the result is an impressive barrage of deliciously overloaded Flaming Lips-esque flourishes on several songs new and old. Neil Young shows up in spirit on 'Hurt So Good', and we once again witness that charming Magic Numbers gig staple – the singalong to a song nobody's supposed to know yet. It says much about the kind of fans they attract that the bloke next to me chooses to add a third harmony to the two being demonstrated by Michelle and Angela.

Their new-found drive is double-edged, however, and two other newies, ‘Once I Had’ and ‘80s Mac-channelling ‘Why Did You Call’, suffer as if someone’s had a word in the band’s ear to “give it some welly”, resulting in a distinct loss of dynamics in the former and Michelle’s vocal being subsumed amid the latter’s arrangement. Minor gripes, though, in a set that makes lavishly clear The Magic Numbers’ evident intention to do whatever they please in 2010.

Charlie Ivens

Originally published on the-fly.co.uk