Warhaus

Presented by AGDL. Warhaus, the solo project of Maarten Devoldere, has long been synonymous with a dandy pop that is as elegant as it is excellent. Yet on The Donkey, his fifth studio album, he seems to have given himself over to something more instinctive, more primal.

Imagine hypnotic lyrics, raw vocals, tribal rhythms inspired by South African Gqom and infectious grooves tinged with grime, conjuring images of feverish, undulating bodies.

Listening to the latest tracks, Simple Pleasures and The Baby, one can legitimately wonder what this new duality will look like on stage. Will the show be imbued with the refined elegance suggested by Simple Pleasures?

Or will the hall turn into a stifling club at closing time, in the image of the wild, gripping howl of The Baby? Warhaus refuses to choose. Why decide when you can have both?

Naturally, Devoldere will draw generously from the exhilarating new songs that run through The Donkey, while revisiting the more refined pop numbers and familiar classics that now form part of the Warhaus repertoire.

All the ingredients are in place to draw the audience into a delicious loss of bearings, until the line between ecstasy and exhaustion begins to blur. Or, as The Donkey predicts from its very first minute: 'You better think before you're gonna play with matches / It's gonna burn'.

Bang! © AGDL