Electronic music is in a bit of a funny place in the current music landscape. The recent explosion in popularity of genres like dubstep and synthpop has made it even harder for artists in a bit of a saturated scene to make their mark and really stand out. Drops and breakbeats built to move the body that were previously seen as vibrant and innovative are starting to be seen as boring tropes.

Artists are starting to have to look towards other ways such as expressive visual live shows to separate themselves from the pack and create a lasting impression with an audience. This held true in an electronic heavy bill at The Sinclair on a Friday night that featured the idiosyncratic artist known as Slow Magic.

The stage setup was deceptively simple. A laptop coupled with a sequencer and two floor toms were all that came out. But the story quickly unfolded when Slow Magic hit the stage. Wearing his signature mask that flashed in brilliant backlit LED patterns over the course of the show, salve Slow Magic almost immediately separated himself from the rest of the night’s artists when he got on stage by looking the part of Frank from Donnie Darko meets a primitive kaleidoscope-colored zebra. And then the music started.

Mainly drawing material from his new album How to Run Away with some gems from his previous album ?, diagnosis Slow Magic ran through his set at a fairly brisk pace. Only stopping in brief moments to throw up heart signs with his hands to the crowd, ed you could plainly see everyone was feeling the love as they bobbed to pulse-pounding stand-outs like “Still Life”, “Girls”, and “Corvette Cassette”. Slow Magic even busted out an old classic in the middle of the set, performing a live remix of the 90’s Destiny’s Child hit “Say My Name”.

At times, it felt like watching a cult in the middle of worship to its leader. Random members of the packed floor wore slightly more flimsy but matching LED masks that were being sold at a fairly steep $30 the merch stand. In this sense, the silent yet charismatic cult leader definitely played a very active role in guiding his flock as he accentuated his music with live dancing and drumming.

Making it a point to hop into the crowd multiple times with one of the floor toms and drum in the sea of bodies definitely added to the very genuine connection Slow Magic achieved that most of the artists on the bill lacked in comparison. Even electro-veteran Phaeleh who shared the headlining spot with Slow Magic found it difficult to match up with the very real connection that the self-proclaimed “imaginary friend” managed to achieve by the end of his set. On paper, you could say that Slow Magic’s sound feels akin to artists like Baths and M83 where you can definitely identify that it is specifically designed to make you move, but it somehow still manages to feel organic when you hear it. However, even with all that being said, seeing Slow Magic live definitely brings something magical and intangible to the table that you really wouldn’t be able to appreciate otherwise.