Melt Yourself Down mosh-it-up at Lexington

Melt Yourself Down’s performance at The Lexington was proof that jazz-punk outfit intend to make waves this year. Fronted by the theatrical, punk rock-inspired frontman Kushal Gaya, the band escalated the night from a head-bobbing, toe-tapping affair to a full-on mosh pit. What can one expect when confronted with the ingenious combination of Pete Wareham and George Crowley on saxophones, Adam Betts and Satin Singh on drums and percussion, Gaya on vocals, Ruth Goller on electric bass and backing vocals, and almost everyone on synths.

Their previous album, Last Evenings On Earth, came out in spring 2016 via The Leaf Label to critical acclaim. Since then, the band has kept a low profile, with personnel changes including Shabaka Hutchings being replaced by George Crowley, and Tom Skinner by Adam Betts. However, change is on the horizon as the band announced their new single ‘Boot & Spleen’, out via Decca Records, as well as an upcoming album soon to be released in October.

Their set consisted of a balanced mixture of old material and unreleased new compositions. The former included tracks like 'We Are Enough' and 'Fix My Life', which, infused with football chant-like riffs and heavy, dissonant sax duels, led to an almost frenzied response from die-hard fans in the crowd, some of whom had travelled from as far as Leeds, Bristol, and even Italy.

Speaking to Wareham post-gig, he explained that the upcoming album has been in development for almost three years. While previous releases were recorded as “jazz albums”, (“you write the music, rehearse with the band, and then go in the studio and record”), this next album involves a lot more post-production and editing and is more of a typical studio album.

On stage the band made adroit use of effects, with octave pedals and heaps of reverb on the saxophones creating layers upon jarring layers. While their latest recorded project is yet to be revealed, there’s no contest, Melt Yourself Down are electric live. Despite frequent forays into the crowd, Kushal Gaya didn’t quite trust the audience enough to attempt a stage dive, though towards the last song, the longing was clearly there in his eyes. Shouting out between songs, “This is why we make music!!”, Gaya proves that time may have passed, but the energy and message of Melt Yourself Down remains the same.