A. G. Cook @ SWG3, Glasgow, 15 Dec
Hopping across his decade-long career, A. G. Cook delivers a captivating 90-minute set layering his solo work and beats from high profile collaborations
Just up from the entrance to SWG3 on Eastvale Place is a new mural which pays tribute to the pop star and producer SOPHIE who died tragically in 2021. The large angelic image depicts the artist surrounded by clouds, a picture recognisable to fans as the artwork from her 2017 single It’s Okay To Cry. Tonight, the mural has a captive audience. Some people on their way to the A. G. Cook gig at the venue’s Warehouse stop and stare, while others line up for pictures with it and cross the road to have a proper look.
It's no surprise that there are shared fans between SOPHIE and hyperpop producer A. G. Cook. The two were friends, collaborators and labelmates on Cook’s innovative and playful PC Music, which released its final records in 2023 after an era-defining decade influencing popular music from the fringes. In the year that followed, Cook became more of a household name than ever before thanks to a couple of high-profile shoutouts on 2024’s runaway album of the year, Charli xcx’s BRAT, which Cook worked on as a lead producer. He also released Britpop – a sprawling three-part solo record divided into Past, Present and Future discs. It's an album he draws from less than expected over the course of an unrelenting and captivating 90-minute set at SWG3.
Hopping across his decade-long career, Cook layers solo work and beats from his high profile collaborations; the twinkly bed from Charli xcx’s party4u blends into Britpop’s Lucifer and quickly gives way to fuzzy distortion. When a familiar slice of SOPHIE’s Love Me Off Earth finds its way into the frenetic mix, there's little the audience can do but surrender and dance. The set is loud and dance-driven until halfway through when Cook steps out from behind the decks and changes the pace. Taking things down a notch for around 20 minutes, Cook focuses on the softer side of his discography. Singing through an autotuned microphone, the producer’s more indie-inflected songwriting briefly takes centre stage and builds to a head-banging singalong.
Cook closes the night with Charli xcx’s Club Classics which lights up the room. If conversations in the crowd before the show are anything to go by, some of the audience might have hoped to hear more from the BRAT universe. But with so much to enjoy across Cook’s discography, the crowd seem more than happy with their lot. As Charli herself pointed out – you gon' jump if A. G. made it.