Santigold In Vivid Form At Spin Magazine SXSW Party

Wesleyan alumna Santigold performs Friday, March 16, at Spin magazine's Spinn@Stubbs party.

AUSTIN, Texas — After far too long an absence, electro-rock powerhouse Santigold is back in full force at this year’s South by Southwest festival.

The singer, a Wesleyan alumna, releases her first album in four years in May, and she mixed new songs with tunes from her 2008 debut during a performance Friday at Spin magazine’s annual Spin@Stubbs day party.

She was in vivid form.

Dressed in a skirt and colorful print t-shirt and wearing sunglasses and a crown, Santigold looked delighted at the size and enthusiasm of the crowd. She was flanked by a pair of dancers/backup singers who wore shades and kept their faces expressionless while twirling parasols, dragging Santigold around the stage and sometimes literally kicking up their heels.

Her live band, dressed in white and wearing skull caps that gave them the appearance of having plastic flat-top hairstyles, was augmented by recorded tracks that she sang along to.

Older songs “L.E.S. Artistes” and “Creator” sounded as vibrant as they did in 2008, and songs from the new album showed a similar mix of electronic sounds and live instrumentation: one tune featured a taut, snapping snare drum and a heavy bottom-end club rhythm,while another paired spacey piano over a shuddering beat.

She closed her 45-minute show with “Big Mouth,” the first single from “Master of My Make-Believe,” due May 1 on Downtown Records.