EXITMUSIC are going to be big. There, I said it. Husband and wife duo Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church, along with drummer Dru Prentiss and Nicholas Shelestack taking care of the electronic section, offered up a hypnotizing, 30 minute, full on experience at Wrongbar Thursday night. Palladino, if you thought she looked familiar, is an actress. It took me about 10 minutes before the lightbulb came on “OH, Jimmy’s wife Angela from Boardwalk!” yep that’s her. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, Palladino comes from a largely artistic family and has been acting and playing guitar since her early teens (she’s 31 now). She met now husband Devon Church and began making beautifully dark, luscious music together, inspired by Radiohead, of course as their name comes from one of Radiohead’s songs. Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Ros are also highly influential on their sound.
Everything was running a bit behind at Wrongbar, and Palladino took to the stage citing technical difficulties. She stated that her keyboard just wouldn’t work, and that she would feel awkward in those songs where she would be instrumentless. I don’t think anyone noticed if she felt awkward once she belted out that first line. Palladino’s voice is phenomenal, she can hit a low throaty growl to a high pitched melodic yell like no other (did I mention her mother’s an opera singer as well?). Barely moving on the stage, EXITMUSIC doesn’t need a fancy show with theatrics to captivate their audience. During “Passage,” the title track off their debut full length, everyone swayed and bobbed their heads, mesmerized by the guitar work from the two. The entire set made you feel like you were floating on a dark cloud, over a grey, calm sea. It’s a beautiful experience and feeling. The album deals with a lot of loss, and what feels like pain, desperation and sadness. The last line in Passage, “Once the dawn falls down upon us, I will let you go”, sums it up best. With a flawless live set, even among technical difficulties and a short time slot, and a beautiful album, expect to see a lot more of EXITMUSIC in the future.