TuneLab
WhoMadeWho live for Cercle
at Abu Simbel, Egypt
Only Cercle would have the audacity to plonk a live electronica act in front of the Abu Simbel temples, and only WhoMadeWho would have the musical grandeur to justify it. We are all tiny specks in the shadow of colossal statues, which feels about right when the bass notes start echoing off millennia-old stone. This is a live band set rooted in indie-tinged electronica and progressive house, operating at a head-nodding 119.6 BPM average. The harmonic journey favors the epic, open qualities of 12A, with forays into 8B and 5A providing emotional contrast.
The energy is beautifully balanced; the low-end (avg 0.53) is present and propulsive, but it's the rich, melodic mid-range (avg 0.45) that carries the narrative, perfect for Tomas Høffding's iconic baritone and the band's live instrumentation. It feels expansive and human. While the set is largely a showcase of their own material, the curation is impeccable. The opener, Deer Jade's 'Firmament', is a majestic, scene-setting ambient piece.
They then dive into their collaboration with Rampa, 'Abu Simbel', a track so perfectly titled for the moment it's almost comical. Other highlights include the driving, Jimi Jules-remixed 'Dynasty' and the hypnotic, Patrice Bäumel-assisted 'Nefertari'. For variety, they seamlessly blend in Monolink's 'Return to Oz' and Sezer Ulker's atmospheric 'Medusa'. The live journey is a slow-building epic: from the ambient swell of 'Firmament', rising through the percussive thrust of their Rampa collaborations, reaching a communal, arms-in-the-air peak, and finally coming to rest with the sprawling, 21-minute live rendition of their own 'Heads Above', a closing track that earns every second of its runtime.