Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble, Green Door Store, Brighton

Perhaps most famous as the singer in seminal Nineties art-pop band Stereolab, Laetitia Sadier has worked hard in recent years to establish herself as a solo artist in her own right through a series of well-received avant-muzak albums, including this year’s Finding Me Finding You.

She has not been to Brighton since 2014 – that visit had one audience member describing them as “God’s in-house band” – and the gig is a near sell-out, with a sea of happy faces awaiting the bands.

The stage of the Green Door Store is decked out in golden sequined fabric for Batsch, a self-described “groove-orientated dance-pop” band. Tight, jaunty drum beats and synth drones permeate the set and, coupled with some accessible art-rock melodies crooned out by the singer, they are almost reminiscent of early Hot Chip, Metronomy’s latest album, or anything on the DFA roster. Batsch’s songs are also peppered with Sadier-style quirks, like cowbells and high, meandering basslines. Perhaps this explains why their set is received so well by the bopping audience.

It quickly becomes clear that the Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble are a band of virtuosos

By the time Laetitia Sadier and co make it to the stage, the gig is running 40 minutes late, yet the audience is instantly pacified and on-side thanks to the sheer friendliness of the band. They settle into their positions and launch into the triumphant “Find Me the Pulse of the Universe”, with Sadier’s signature upside-down guitar helping each section blossom with warmth. It quickly becomes clear that the Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble are a band of virtuosos.

Sadier’s voice is beautifully clear and high, and she uses it to outstanding effect – not only are her melodies gorgeous and her tone consistently bittersweet, but the swelling backing vocals that phase themselves in and out throughout are inflated by her inspired vocalisations over the top.

Each musician also takes a turn in the spotlight. During “The Woman with the Invisible Necklace”, the combination of Emmanuel Mario’s intricate bongos and Xavi Muñoz’s wandering bass refrains establishes the rhythm section as a force to be reckoned with, something built upon through the power and mesmerism of their parts in the standout “Then I Will Love You Again”. Synth player Nina Savary (“the newest member of our family”) adds waves of washy synth-strings, retro organs, and flutes to the already bursting sound. What’s most impressive of all is how each individual’s detailed part never overshadows another. You’d be hard pressed to find a more well-balanced live band.

Through lost iPads, unplugged speakers, and malfunctioning loop machines, Sadier remains not only calm but also thoroughly likeable. The only moment she seems vaguely rattled is when an enthusiastic audience member calls for Stereolab staple “French Disko”. She refuses, and the audience laugh. “The present,” she calls back, “the present, the present, the now!” Indeed, when the music she’s making is so pleasing, there doesn’t seem any need for her to reach too far back into her 20-plus year career for material.

Perhaps an overheard conversation summed it up best, when one gig-goer said to another, “It’s all about their vibe”: the Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble have no shortage of that.

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Watch the video for "Galactic Emergence" by Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble