‘The collapse of the commonwealth dream, the illusion of love on the screen, old wounds, old wounds’. Gabriel Kahane sings behind/within the keys and straps of a 100-year-old harmonium nested in a flight case. The foot-pumping of the organ’s pedals combined with Gabriel’s black jumpsuit give the appearance of an artist embarking on a voyage in a magnificent flying machine. The prospect of a madcap adventure gains traction as Pekka Kuusisto —his co-pilot and the other half of their new band— lends dissonant, electric violin to the mix of the opening track of their set. We’re in for a ride, but what sort? 

Before talking of the song craft, the multi-instrumental mastery, the sound worlds that encompass Andrew Bird, the Danish String Quartet and Sigur Rós, it seems important to mention that Gabriel and Pekka seem to be having an absolute riot in this newly-constructed creative vessel. The set is littered with jokes, in-jokes, dad jokes and mutual teasing. In Pekka’s fiddle intro to second track ‘Blue’, he somehow conjures the sound of a bagpipe from within a violin, transporting the Upper East Side concert hall to both Finland and Orkney. ‘I don’t know if you wanted to say something about that Pekka?’ asks Gabriel. ‘It’s better if I don’t,’ he drily replies. The impishness is enchanting and infectious.

What belies this easy humor and playfulness is two musicians at their absolute creative peak. In ‘Unicorn Glove’, Gabriel switches to electric guitar, summoning a shoe-gazing sound bed upon which he lays some of his devastating lyric writing and delivery. ‘Talked wild and slow but didn’t know your name’ he sings and then moves the talking to his guitar and Pekka’s violin. ‘Where do I go?’ asks Pekka between tracks before settling behind the organ, launching into ‘Tetris’ which includes a John Adams-like pulse, whistling that Sufjan Stevens would be proud of and an ‘ambiguous ending on the supertonic’ that Gabriel’s particularly tickled by. Council also creates the space for Pekka to sing, something that made waves at the BBC Proms in 2016 and is now transposed into the medium of this new band. To Pekka belongs some of the most deft lines of the evening, his lighter, unvarnished vocals lending a biting, true delivery to the verse. ‘Feel free to keep on staring, say shame on you, you’re no one’s hero / here’s me on the scale of caring: I’m at zero’ is a lyric that deserves to be sung time and time again to crowds that by then know Council songs by heart.

From an imagined flying machine to a very real one: Pekka’s stage patter includes an enquiry as to the time due to a Finland-bound flight he must catch by midnight in order to conduct the Helsinki Phil on Monday. It’s an organic reminder that the stupendous music unfolding before us isn’t really either musician’s primary or even secondary professional commitment. Maybe this lack of pressure is one of the key dimensions that helps the project take flight. Either way, if you want to be transported to a special place, make sure to be onboard next time this pair of aviators take to the sky. 

And in the meantime, check out their debut single ‘Bright Forms’ here. Click here to find more concerts coming to 92NY.