Kindness, Electric Brixton

Cover versions may seldom supersede their origins in the popular consciousness, but the best can bring a song to a whole new language, highlighting aspects buried in the original recording. So with Kindness’ rendition of The Replacements’ classic ‘Swinging Party.’ The wistful shuffle of Paul Westerberg’s dazed mantra becomes a woozy vision of early hours ennui, buffeted by pillowing synths and wracked by a misty-eyed desperation. It’s a ghostly shell of a song, a gem of hollowness that brought Kindness instant blog-world attention.
When British musician and music video director Adam Bainbridge won a prestigious fellowship at the Philadelphia Institute of Advanced Study, he completed his course by recording an album of synthetic soul. Taking the name Kindness, he soon found a home on Moshi Moshi records. After a run of dreamy singles, his first album World, You Need A Change of Mind (2012) was released to a strong reception. Otherness (2014) followed, refining his sound to a new level of polish. His concert at Electric Brixton, his sole planned UK date in the coming months, offers a chance to hear work from both albums as well as new material.
Kindness’ music is defined by a fusion of a gauzy dreaminess with the propulsive rhythms of house. Icy electronic flourishes dance around his anchoring voice, as in ‘House,’ before drums and backing singers burst into colour and light. At times his vocals carry an echo of Arthur Russell, while at the music evokes the smoothest, slickest sounds of the late 80s. His cover of Anita Dobson’s ‘Anyone Can Fall in Love’ – the Eastenders theme tune – turns the kitschy original into something slick and stylized, while lead Otherness track ‘This is Not About Us’ brings a sort of desiccated funk, as if Beck had recorded an album inspired equally by Phil Collins and rave culture. This is music so uncool that it’s cool, so cold that it’s sensual. In a field crowded with nostalgic re-imaginings of sounds gone by, Kindness stands out as a distinctive young voice.