Considering the critical praise of both their self titled release and ‘The Moon Rang Like a Bell’ coupled with a seemingly exponentially growing fan base; I am somewhat shocked to find a relatively quiet venue awaiting me as I stumble up the stairs of The Deaf Institute, a little late.

Concerns that I am to miss Hundred Waters opening are alleviated when I see support Emprss playing the last notes of their final song. I have a pang of remorse and guilt at not being able to catch any of their swirling grooves, so I will ease my pain by sincerely recommending their debut self-titled EP to anyone with a love of downtempo electronica.

So with a venue rather under populated with a smaugers board of Manchester’s trendiest looking folk, the air is charged with a definite element of intimacy and exclusivity as Hundred Waters make their entrance. Starting with ‘Murmurs’, the simplicity of the opening chords and repetition of ‘I wish you…’ are instantly recognisable and provide Goosebumps aplenty. Following this, the four-piece move swiftly to ‘Cavity’, creating an almost tangible wall of electro-orgasmic noise in the song’s climax.

Playing the two lead singles of their 2014 release consecutively and at the beginning of the set could be considered a risky strategy, but the atmosphere in the room is one of true album-immersed fandom and enthusiasm remains high as the show moves forward.

Whilst the whole outfit are clearly incredibly accomplished musicians and multi-intrumentalists, Nicole Miglis’ vocals often steal the limelight and are sometimes utterly enveloping in their ethereal loveliness, often hitting and maintaining incredibly high notes. This, combined with a beautiful piano flourish in ‘Show Me Love’ and flute accompaniment  in ‘Down the Rafters’ make for delightful additions to her repertoire.

The fusion of the electronic and organic really come to a head in the encore, ‘{Animal}’ possesses a trance-like, drum fuelled vigour that stirs more motion from the crowd than any previous number. ‘Are/Or’ rounds things off nicely with a softer conclusion, the guitars working exceptionally well amongst the electronic pitter-patter.

One criticism of the performance would be that certain elements that I expected to be performed with live instrumentation are reduced to mere samples keyed into the synth, with the string sections on some tracks being entirely sampled. This can forgiven considering the vast range of elements incorporated into the set, but it still couldn’t help but stir a little internal grumble.