The Big Pink Cover Otis Redding, Play New Song in Boston

The Big Pink's set at Boston's Paradise on Saturday began with the kind of squall and wail that might highlight a finale. It ended an hour later with a bubbly pop anthem fit for an accessible catchy introduction.

Such is the tricky way of this British duo, which melds psychedelic sonics and digi-beat bombast with anthemic pop. This diverse sound whooshed the English shoe gaze duo of singer/guitarist Robbie Furze and programming and synth maestro Milo Cordell into listeners' hearts and minds with last fall's debut, 'A Brief History of Love.'

On Saturday, that fuzzy droning opener, 'Too Young to Love,' was followed by the velvety Echo and the Bunnymen-like pop of 'At War With the Sun,' the wiry funk of 'Frisk,' and last summer's hit, 'Dominos,' which capped the night. In between album highlights, the band, a four-piece in the live setting, unfurled their party trick, Otis Redding's 'These Arms of Mine,' which was stripped to a spectral bobby soxer ballad. They then added a new song to the set: the insistent, plaintive 'Twilight.' (A representative from Big Pink's label, 4AD, confirmed the song is as-yet-untitled: 'Twilight' being a working moniker.)

'Twilight' was a clue as to where the Big Pink is headed on its second album. The duo is now midway through their North American headlining tour, which began Mar. 9 in Los Angeles and ends back in California at Coachella on Apr. 18. The band is cruising to the finish line of first-album promotion on autopilot, giving just a few hints of what's to come.

The words 'Hello Boston" and "This is a new one" were the extent of the Big Pink's chit-chat, all from Furze. As for Cordell, he was perched over the console, his hoodie pulled over his head, his nose buried so far into his keyboard that the occasional flash revealed little about his identity. But in an age when each and every event is occasion for a tweet, a little reticence and mystery is refreshing. You paid your money, you got your tunes. But upping the musical end game is never a bad idea.

The Big Pink on AOL Music