Tune-Yards @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 24 Aug

Morgan Harper-Jones is, in her words, “the calm before the beautiful, gorgeous storm.” Which is fairly accurate; the Manchester-based singer-songwriter mostly deals in lightly strummed, delicate melodies that are neatly looped to create the illusion of a bigger sound. It's a giggly set, full of false starts and endlessly endearing chat. Swimming Upstream is a fantastic ode to contextual empathy – and it's catchy, too. The closing cover of I Wanna Dance with Somebody, as played by Julien Baker, is the cherry on the top of an opening set punching well above its weight.

Fortunately, Tune-Yards are not a band to be upstaged. And when Merrill Garbus starts crawling her way on stage you know you're in for a treat. The first couple of songs (Sink-O and Homewrecker) ease us in to her 'loop everything' style, before Look at Your Hands sees some cautious steps towards audience interaction. However, the opening sirens of Gangsta are where things really get going. Garbus' ability to loop shrieks and wails into the midi-pad, mix them with synths and make something that feels organic is a wonder to behold. The crowd go bananas, and we're off. A brief respite with Honesty, but then Water Fountain follows and it starts again – this time the key chorus parts are preset so there's a little less Garbus intensity, but this does allow her more space to nail the fast-paced verses.


Image: Tune-Yards @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 24 Aug by Izzy Reeve

There's somewhat of a sense of treading water when we're between the hits (Powa and Hammer, for instance), and even Garbus seems to take these as a breather. Which makes sense as the intensity can't be maintained the whole time, but the gulf between the bangers and the rest seems overly wide at times. Powa, for example, sounds great, but it feels like we're just waiting for hypnotized, then Bizness to restart the dance party.

Bizness is one of a few songs to indulge in some choral interaction, as well as Water Fountain, the crowd in full throat actually managing to inform the song rather than the usual attempts that just go through the motions. More power to Garbus' sway over the audience. nowhere, man forms the encore alone, but is more than adequate, especially in an altered line about women's bodily rights that the crowd emphatically concur with.

Hamir Atwal (drums) and Nate Brenner (bass) play their part, but this is clearly the Merrill Garbus show and her frenetic energy is infectious. The first few songs started with a serious artiste demeanour, but the kayfabe quickly fades into sincere joy and fun, and we're all the better for it.