Automatic Turns Minimalist Tension Into A Live Studio Pulse
Presented by KEXP, Los Angeles trio Automatic steps into the studio for a four-song performance that proves minimal does not have to mean motionless.
Izzy Glaudini, Halle Gaines and Troy Woodhall lock synth, bass and drums into a coolly controlled pulse, letting repetition build pressure until every small shift feels enormous. The arrangements stay lean, but the room never feels empty.
The session draws from Automatic’s third album, Is It Now?, a record that folds political anxiety, consumer fatigue and automated warfare into grooves sleek enough to make the warning signs danceable. That tension lands even harder live, where the rhythm section breathes and the sharper edges have nowhere to hide.
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Automatic Live On KEXP Setlist
- “Black Box” — 00:39
- “Is It Now?” — 04:45
- “mq9” — 08:09
- “Mercury” — 11:51
The opening “Black Box” establishes the band’s operating system immediately: a driving low end, dry percussion and synth lines that flash like warnings across a dark control panel. Glaudini’s delivery remains detached enough to feel ominous, while the music underneath keeps insisting on movement.
“Is It Now?” sharpens that uneasy balance between pop immediacy and social exhaustion. Automatic understands that a hook can carry a critique farther than a lecture, and the performance never sacrifices momentum to underline its point.
The set becomes especially menacing during “mq9,” whose pulsing bass, stabbing synths and sci-fi effects evoke the cold machinery of drone warfare. In the studio, the song feels less programmed than stalked forward—tight enough to remain hypnotic, loose enough to remind us actual bodies are making all that mechanical dread.
“Mercury” completes the session without suddenly reaching for a grand finale. Automatic stays committed to the slow accumulation of pressure: bass pushing forward, drums holding the frame and synth textures turning the air metallic around them. The restraint is thee flex.
The lineup keeps the performance physically direct: Izzy Glaudini on lead vocals and synth, Halle Gaines on bass and Troy Woodhall on drums. Nobody crowds the sound. Each part has room to register, repeat and mutate just enough to keep the set alive.
Automatic Keeps The KEXP Studio In A Tight Grip
The four-song session moves through stark close-ups, locked-in rhythm work and a trio fully committed to making restraint feel physical.
Automatic performs “Black Box,” “Is It Now?,” “mq9” and “Mercury” live in the KEXP studio. Images via KEXP.
Automatic’s music is often described through its austerity, but this performance exposes how much personality lives inside that precision. The grooves smirk, the synths jab and the trio leaves just enough space for every uneasy idea to keep echoing after the final note.
Watch Automatic’s Full Live Performance On KEXP
The complete studio session features “Black Box,” “Is It Now?,” “mq9” and “Mercury” performed live by Automatic.
Source: KEXP; Automatic official website.
