Near Death Experience's single, "Shake," arrived not so much as music, but as a sudden, urgent insistence. It’s London psych-rock-soul alright, but brewed with something fiercely immediate, demanding attention like a ringing telephone in an empty room. The core quartet – Ian Whiteling guiding the trip with vocals and guitar fuzz, Joshua Van Ness laying down a heartbeat that feels both frantic and locked-in,...

Before the curtain rises, there is already a contract in place. The room has paid for magic, the performer has learned how to make exhaustion look like sparkle, and every seat carries its own appetite. The front row is the most dangerous place in that exchange because it mistakes closeness for knowledge. It sees the shine on the costume, the mouth forming a smile, the...