Cloud Control review – Australian 2010s indie darlings reunite for a joyfully nostalgic tour

The Guardian

2 days ago

'We've been on a real nostalgia bender in the lead-up to this,' Heidi Lenffer tells a sold-out Northcote theatre. She and her band, Cloud Control, are not alone in that. Anyone who was interested in Australian indie music in the 2010s probably came across the Blue Mountains quartet: Lenffer on keys, percussion and vocals, her brother Ulrich on drums and backing vocals, Jeremy Kelshaw on bass and backing vocals, and Alister Wright on guitar and vocals.
For almost a decade they were darlings of the scene, releasing three albums, supporting big-ticket international bands including Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend, living overseas for a spell, even having a song on the Magic Mike soundtrack. Then, at the end of 2018, they went dark.
So to attend a Cloud Control show in 2025 feels like a trip back in time – founding bassist Kelshaw, who left the band in 2015, returns for this tour, too. It's a homecoming for good reason: it's been 15 years since they released their Australian Music prize-winning debut Bliss Release and, as is the way of the nostalgia tour, they're playing it front to back.
Cloud Control's musical evolution was fascinating to follow. Bliss Release has undeniable hints of the 'stomp clap hey' style of music that was ubiquitous at the time: hand claps, tambourines, whoops, sweet boy-girl harmonies. It's a sound that became a cliche but Cloud Control offset some of the genre's more twee aspects with esoteric lyricism and whip-smart songwriting.
Their subsequent albums, 2013's Dream Cave and 2017's Zone, each stepped further into experimentalism, flirting with psychedelia and even electronica. The songs were always buoyed by the excellent vocal duo of Heidi Lenffer and Wright.
On the night, Bliss Release is sandwiched between two mini-sets of songs from the latter albums. It perhaps would have made a little more sense to start from the beginning, so that trajectory and development would be more evident in real time.
But their sound is instantly transportive. The band is incredibly tight and there's no hint that it's been years since they've played together. The Pavement-esque fuzz of Rainbow City sounds great live, with almost shouted lyrics melting into harmony – a gorgeous contrast of textures.
There is a certain charming naivety, or earnestness, to Bliss Release now – both in comparison with the band's later albums and with age. But they inhabit it with joy and that same precision, with a dash of ramshackle energy. Wright constantly bounces around the stage and, as they often did back in the day, they insert a rapped verse from the Butthole Surfers' Pepper into one of their earliest singles, the hymn-like Gold Canary.
There are subtle changes in instrumentation: on the haunting Ghost Story, Kelshaw puts the bass down to tap drumsticks against a guitar case for an extra layer of percussion, and the sunny This Is What I Said has a hint of distortion this time. Some things remain the same, including Kelshaw's leaping basslines and the band's signature use of vocals as harmoniser, instrument and percussion. The effect is often mesmerising, as it always was.
The slower points of the album, such as the acoustic Hollow Drums, slightly drop the energy – but, as Wright says, 'We're playing by the rules.' It's a chance for his strong vocals to be front and centre, as is Just for Now, which has some of his most beautiful harmonies with Lenffer.
When they dip into the rest of their back catalogue, Cloud Control's sound immediately becomes more cavernous and expansive. The euphoric Scar is a highlight, with vocals soaring above busy keys. There's a false start for the synthy Treetops but, once it's rolling, it's Lenffer's moment to shine – and she does. The night is capped with the title track from Dream Cave, in which Wright's vocals are loud and raw, cracking with emotion.
It all feels like a celebration of one of Australia's finest bands – a belated victory lap. The members of Cloud Control have their own projects now, musical and otherwise (Lenffer gives a shout-out to her fellow parents of kids under five). But this is where it all began and the music is evergreen. It feels lovely to return to it in the live space – even if it's just for now.
Cloud Control are performing Bliss Release in Margaret River on 6 June, Fremantle on 7 June, Morton, NSW, on 14 June and Sydney on 20 June