Pop-duo Wasia Project have been very busy this year. The sibling duo of William Gao and Olivia Hardy released their latest EP, ‘Isotope’, at the end of August, and haven’t stopped going since.

To celebrate the release of the EP, they’ve been touring North America, the EU and now are ready to end a spectacular year with a string of shows in the UK. On this slightly chilly Tuesday evening, we’re at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in north London, and as I arrive, there’s a queue hundreds of metres long, winding its way up and down the side streets near the venue, with some fans having spent several hours out in the November weather in order to get barricade.

Tonight’s show starts with a set from singer songwriter Hohnen Ford. A north London native, she’s clearly thrilled to be playing to a home crowd. With just her alone on the keyboard, she commands the stage with dulcet tones and sets the tone for the night. 

It’s time for Wasia Project to take to the stage, with the jazz-infused ‘Isotope (Interlude)’ coming in first, easing the crowd in. They take to the stage and go in strong with the first song on ‘Isotope’, ‘Is This What Love Is?’. Hardy moves around stage like she’s born to be there, singing effortlessly as she drifts across the stage, twirling and fluid. Gao is on keys, infusing their dream pop with a jazz tone, confident and sure of himself as he switches effortlessly between his two keyboards. With the band (in addition to Gao and Hardy there was a drummer, bassist and saxophone player) all in black and white suits, they are completely in sync with each other. 

Their live performance style is sophisticated and polished as we continue with ‘My Lover Is Sleeping’, ‘Petals On The Moon’ and ‘How Can I Pretend?’, the title track from their debut EP, released in 2022. We continued on with the older material with ‘Why Don’t U Love Me’ and the 2020 release, ‘Burning Eyes Are Calling’, before coming back to new music with ‘Takes Me Back Home’.

This is a special show for Wasia Project; not only were they born in London, their entire family is here tonight to see them in their best light. Their grandma gets a special shout out, as she’s flown all the way here from China to see them perform live for the first time – needless to say, she gets a huge cheer from the crowd.

They played what might be their most popular song (to date, anyway), ‘Ur So Pretty’, right in the middle of the set, the atmosphere hitting a high point. It’s their most streamed song, with over 67,00,000 streams on Spotify alone. The song attracted major attention last year, when it was featured in Netflix’s hit show “Heartstopper”, during the Series 2 finale; this isn’t a happy coincidence, as Gao plays the character of film fanatic Tao Xu on the show. I imagine that many of the fans here tonight discovered Wasia Project through ‘Heartstopper’. There’s a collective cacophony of gasps and sighs and ‘Oh my god!’ as the audience realise that Gao is playing the song’s famous piano intro. There’s a stillness in the crowd as they sing along: ‘Cause you’re so pretty / When you smile, it kills me / You’re the only person left, so hold me / Don’t leave me’.

We dream through the gentle, calming, and melancholy-tinged ‘My Vine’, where Hardy encourages the audience to sing the final lyrics with her (‘Loving me, loving me’) on repeat, almost like the crowd are her own personal loop pedal. Gao’s vocals are on top form as he takes the lead on ‘To Get Better’, tonally exceptional as he sings ‘In the backseat of my car / We’re kissing poison and the arguments are melting like the sand, like the sand’.

We then dive into a cover, a jazz-infused pop version of ‘Smooth Operator’, where they split the crowd at the chorus and make it into a singing competition. The audience takes this as a challenge, and more than rises to the occasion. There’s only a few more songs before the night ends, as they play ‘Somebody Come Through’ and ‘Tell Me Lies’, before they go off stage, ahead of the encore.

They finish the show with an electric energy, performing ‘Misfit Biscuit’ and ‘Impossible’ with pure adrenaline and gratitude. It’s always special to see a band perform a sold out show to their hometown, but it’s even more exciting when it’s a band who are only just beginning their ascent towards stardom – something Wasia Project are certainly destined for.

SETLIST

Is This What Love Is?
My Lover is Sleeping
Petals On the Moon
How Can I Pretend?
Why Don’t U Love Me
Burning Eyes Are Calling
Takes Me Back Home
Remember When
Ur So Pretty
My Vine
To Get Better
Smooth Operator (Cover of Sade)
Somebody Come Through
Tell Me Lies
Misfit Biscuit
Impossible