Live Review: Borns, Woodes

"Borns' sound check actually blew my mind!" exclaims Elle Graham (aka Woodes), sharing her excitement about seeing tonight's headliner. The enchanting musician and her band stand in a straight line across the stage to create layers of perfectly crafted, euphoric electro-pop sounds. Graham's soaring vocals are absolutely pristine and captivating. An intense drumming instrumental builds during Northern Lights and Graham radiates with a glowing energy before us. Graham shares her recent triple j Like A Version cover of Vance Joy's Lay It On Me, on which she puts her own unique spin. Her ethereal interpretation slows the pace and introduces intricate sounds with beautiful harmonised vocals.

Looking super-cool in a pair of aviator sunnies, Garrett Borns begins with his latest single God Save Our Young Blood. The song was recorded with Lana Del Rey (who he's currently supporting on tour) so audience members speculate about a potential guest vocal performance, but, for tonight, he flies solo. His high-pitched falsetto and charismatic presence are undeniably magnetic. "I feel very self-conscious about singing now. Where does that come from?" Borns asks, perhaps referring to Woodes' opening vocal performance. He continues presenting his sugary synth-pop magic with psychedelic vibes and smooth moves.

It's the first of his two sold-out shows in Melbourne in support of his new album Blue Madonna, which he plays in full together with an assortment of other songs. "It's a fruit and cheese plate to give you a little taste," Borns says. He then serves up his sweet track American Money. "So, before I came over here I packed a bag to bring with me, but I packed incorrectly 'cause I thought it was summer," he reveals. "I just had this shirt and some short shorts!" Borns then dives into Second Night Of Summer with its heavy, synth-driven chorus.

After telling us how much he fucking loves the crowd, Borns leads into his next song I Don't Want U Back. He gives us a slow-paced acoustic rendition of Seeing Stars and really impresses us with his vocal delivery. Supernatural is a song he tells us was "pulled from another realm". Sparks fly and there's a noticeable amount of lovers making out under his spell. Borns casually tucks his black velvet shirt into his pants before the next song. We all dance along to Tension (Interlude), which mashes up perfectly with a few choruses from Madonna's Holiday, and we clearly see the inspiration behind this song and also his album's title. Borns holds his microphone stand out over our heads as we all sing the chorus to Electric Love at the top of our lungs. "Pardon my manners, I didn't even wish you sweet dreams," he teases, after leaving the stage and returning for an encore due to popular demand.