When the eye-catching duo that make up Goldbloc slinked on to the stage of Brighton Music Hall, every pair of impatient eyes turned towards them. After they introduced themselves as Goldenhaus and Solei, an electronic producer/soul singer duo, they are joined by an unexpected addition, Massachusetts rapper L.E. Purpose, who swaggered onto stage and grabbed a mic. With this unique combination of electronic, soul, and hip hop talent taking the stage, what ensued was a 45-minute-long set of extended versions of songs from Goldbloc’s new EP Black Gold peppered with beatboxing and the occasional rap verse.
The audience, which had mostly turned out that night to see the next performer, hip-hop artist Asher Roth, voiced their skepticism about Goldbloc at first, but by the second song of the set, “Days are Dreaming,” they were clapping along. Though occasionally drowned out by the noisy din of L.E. Purpose trying to hype the crowd, a number of deep bass drops, and the general rowdiness of the audience, Solei’s unique voice was the highlight of the show. The best parts of the set came when she was able to showcase her soulful singing alongside L.E. Purpose’s contrasting hip hop sound, with her repetitive verses wafting over his beatboxing to create an odd, yet intriguing cross-genre sound. Goldbloc demonstrated more of their knack for creating cross-genre sounds in their altered cover of Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools,” where Solei sang a few of the hip hop song’s more melodic phrases as L.E. Purpose rapped in between.
Solei’s voice seems to be the focus of the EP, Black Gold, however, during this live show, her vocal talent was more like the backdrop to L.E. Purpose’ seemingly unrehearsed bursts of rapping. Yet the fact that Goldbloc is already playing at Brighton Music Hall for only their second official performance is not an easy feat, clearly illustrating that this duo has talent. It will be exciting to witness Goldbloc’s growth from here, which I am sure will be exponential.
