Swedish synth-pop artist MOLLY NILSSON was in town and Salford’s renowned Islington Mill venue was preparing for a night of darkness only brightened with lights provided by visitors. However, Molly did bring something of her own: “I cheated – I brought a spotlight! But that’s life…”

The night was a stream of electro synth sounds, as we also managed to catch up with local supports BERNARD & EDITH and DIE HEXEN backstage and onstage.

BERNARD & EDITH is the Chorlton-based duo made up of vocalist Greta Carroll and EGYPTIAN HIP HOP’s Nick Delap. They have a depth of sounds with multi-instrumental use, Greta demonstrating an endearing onstage fragility while Nick spins tricks with his electronic setup. They’re still raw and need a lot of streamlining but it’s good to see some experimentation in the city again.

DIE HEXEN aka D. Lucille (“The Visionary”) and Sophie Gug (“The Machinist”) have been spellbinding Manchester for some time. Tonight, they’re dressed stylishly all in white to complement the minimal lighting theme, but this makes their aura no less creepy and transfixing. Easily the most visually and possibly musically fascinating act to come out of the city in recent times, this duo are always amazing live and they are gathering fans from all over the city and eventually from beyond.

MOLLY NILSSON was among us. Her distinctively haunting voice and intensely dark tunes fill the venue, and although seemingly very warm, she has quite the ice queen stage presence. She certainly increased her fanbase tonight with Mill goers who were until now unfamiliar with her.

Another unique night in the history of Islington Mill gigs.