Tonight’s first turn ahead of headliners Islet in Cardiff isn’t Ivor Wood, the celebrated animator of Paddington and Postman Pat, putting in a holographic appearance from beyond the grave, but Ivor Woods, the solo project of queer artist Rachel Crabbe. As September draws to a close, there’s a slight chill in the air – and their music is perfectly suited to the shortening days.

Crabbe combines pre-programmed beats with live synth, guitar and voice for a sound that’s somewhere between The XX, The Japanese House and Portishead. As mention of the latter might suggest, beneath the relatively serene surface is a darker, more gothic undercurrent, encapsulated in lyrics about a pound of flesh and wanting to rip the smile off someone’s face. With the volume cranked up a notch or two and a smidgen more conviction behind the vocals, Crabbe’s compositions would be really compelling.

Illness unfortunately deprives us of the diaphanous melodies of second scheduled support act Aisha Vaughan, but that just gives the headliners more time to dazzle. Not for Islet merely ambling on stage and striking up a song – no, the four members turn things on their head from the very start, making their entrance from the back of the room and creating a tune from handheld chimes as they weave through the throng towards the stage.

It’s a measure of the freewheeling disregard for convention espoused by a band who began life as something of a wild art-rock outfit but have mutated into an intrepid, idiosyncratic avant-pop project. New album Soft Fascination pulls playfully at the loose threads of its predecessor, 2019’s Eyelet, teasing and twisting and unravelling to create something messier and odder.

For an ensemble whose music is so innately percussive, it’s hard to believe that Islet went without a permanent drummer for a while – but JT is back in the fold and nearly everything rests on his rhythms. Excitable synth duo Mark Daman Thomas and Alex Williams generate enough energy to power the show, the former at one point crawling around slapping out a beat on the floor with his palms, while bassist and chief vocalist Emma Daman Thomas brings an element of cool, calm and elegance to the chaos.

As anticipated, upbeat Soft Fascination tracks Euphoria and Sherry in particular benefit from live performance, even if the warmest reception of the night is inevitably reserved for the blissful Balearic psych of Geese. Mark gives a shout-out to the Splottheads before pointing anyone from Pontcanna in the direction of the merch desk, gently chides front-row punters for discussing who their favourite band member is (Alex, for the record) and towards the end announces “Let’s have some real fun!” as if real fun hasn’t been had from the get-go.

Uniquely wired, in thrall to no one and nothing else, Islet are just the tonic for anyone jaded enough to doubt music’s continued ability to confound and delight.

Islet / Ivor Woods, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Sat 30 Sept

words and photos BEN WOOLHEAD