C Duncan @ Pleasance, 4 December

A Mercury nod – and with it a breakneck ascent to hot topic status – has barely fazed C Duncan and his band, still as humble and charming as the greenest of unsigned acts. They take to the Pleasance stage with minimal fanfare, letting the music do the talking, and within moments we’re spirited off to sepia-tinted faraway lands.

Because that’s what Duncan’s intricate compositions achieve: a unique, transportive experience, suddenly taking you a million miles away, to another time, another place. Call it what you want: neo-folk, pop-psych, timelessly bucolic alt-pop (is anyone even keeping track of these anymore?)... whichever way you slice it, it’s affecting, and we’re grateful for the venue’s ample seating, perfect for privately zoning out to these golden, dulcet melodies.

And though there’s an academic sensibility here, his classical training and virtuosic ear translate to pristine constructions, artisanally crafted around the one thing that separates this wheat from modern pop chaff: the vocals. Duncan’s are, of course, incredible (the crowd’s awe is palpable tonight), but the harmonising and layering with those of his entourage are something else entirely. From the whistling shanty of For’s Autumn Rebuild version, to Castle Walls’ and I’ll Be Gone By Winter’s frosty, choral melancholies, sometimes the keys, guitars and drums feel like token additions to that show-stealing voice.

It’s not, in fairness, the most animated of performances, and there’s a degree of restraint both to the band and to certain tracks that, mostly, fail to elevate the gig beyond the studio recordings. The talent is by no means in doubt; notable highlights from his debut Architect (Here To There’s upbeat Django Django-esque tempo, the mighty Garden and its addictive, lilting “So a-liiive” chorus) are even more enchanting in a live setting. But these sparks, though myriad, never quite catch fire in the way our expectations might have envisaged.