Rudi Zygadlo / William Arcane @ Sneaky Pete's, 13 October

A lone, smokily backlit William Arcane haunts the support slot tonight, faceless over his cables and dials. Favouring the increasingly popular combination of lushly preprogrammed synth loops with a ghosting, distant live falsetto, Arcane might nod at a few contemporaries as he goes (Baths, SOHN, a touch of Massive Attack), but he glides past them to his own distinct destination. It’s his first time playing in Scotland, let alone Sneaky’s, and though most of the crowd might be barside just now, eyes and ears are no doubt drawn to the boy’s low-slung electronic grooves.

Turns out he’s also part of Rudi Zygadlo’s entourage, though now it’s to provide a backing – alongside Kate Tempest’s keyboardist Clare Uchima – with a touch more chomp. Zygadlo the man is kind of like his name: all knees and elbows, but confident without taking himself – or his art – too seriously. Pinned in earlier days as a thoughtful genre-blending polymath (with two albums of somewhat mixed fare under his belt), the lanky maestro now seems to be rebranding himself as a purveyor of catchy, hook-driven electro-pop. 

Most conspicuous are the newer tracks – Black Bile’s hip-gyratingly dancey keytar, Sympathies Scrapbook’s separated-at-birth twin to Miaoux Miaoux’s latest record – which typify his new vibe, rich in candied synthesiser and sultry vocals. He’s switched styles before (as often as his location: Dumfries-born, once Glasgow-based, then Berlin, now London), but this, now, has a decidedly poppier bent.

There’s something in his cheeky, self-conscious singing style and wiry dance moves which might divide an audience, but it can’t be denied he’s a consummate, playful performer. This is a top show, for all its posturing, and this crowd is most definitely on board.