Another day, another Lou Smith special. Here’s Velvetine:

Did you watch it all? No? I’ll wait.

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I first heard this band when they were featured on the Slow Dance Records sampler back in January, but it wasn’t until I was working on the Lou Smith Appreciation post that I saw their live performance videos, and they hooked me further. They’re almost a different band on stage. This is good stuff. That performance gets intense.

Velvetine is a dark alt-rock band from London. They have three tracks available on streaming (including one not included in the above). No music videos, no lyric videos, or visualizers — just three songs and a few live performances. The studio tracks are killer, but they don’t capture the heaviness and intensity that the live performance of songs like Idyllic, Miss Together, and Ecstasy have in the video above. Watching them perform the songs seems to make the streaming versions more intense.

Here’s what they sound like in a studio:

All of it almost makes me want to start smoking again. The moodiness and noir-ishness of their sound is very finely-tuned, but not gimmicky. This is of-the-moment stuff, bluesy, goth-y and gritty, seductive and hypnotic. Singer Mia Scarlet has an imposing and memorable stage presence.

But wait, there’s more! A second Lou Smith video, from a performance a little over a year ago. A different setlist, and it’s just as spellbinding:

There isn’t a lot written about this band, at least that I could find. I imagine that’ll change soon though. A stage show as strong as theirs before their first record comes out is a promising start.

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