Campari Kid and Siren of the Squeezebox created haunting and beautifully expressive music at the Artrage Bakery on Thursday night.

Siren of the Squeezebox Cathie Travers virtuosically weaves through Campari Kid !an L!lburne’s poetic examinations of the human condition. She sighs and sings with her accordion while he sings poetry with his Spanish guitar. Further textures are added by Pete Grandison on mandolin, guitar and assorted frets, Gandharua (Phil Bailey) on bass and Peter Smith on drums.

Noticing no support act, I had wondered how they would fill the three hours. There was a long break part way through the night, which also finished early. This was not detrimental to the atmosphere as the second half of the night felt as relaxed as an intimate gig, despite the large venue and crowd of over 100.

The venue choice nods at L!lburne’s past – he met composer Travers while director of Artrage. The Bakery is hidden amongst shipping containers and eclectically furnished “like something out of Star Wars,” according to Gandharua. This was the first time I had seen candlelit tables and seats on the dancefloor.

They talked and joked with the audience, singing original songs, some from L!lburne’s debut album Ghosts and EP Against the Odds, recorded with Grandison at Shanghai Twang Studio. L!lburne’s lyrics are evocative and relatable, sometimes heartbreaking or darkly witty. His musical influences are vast, from Cohen to Eno, his style morphing with the stories set in fantastic or mundane worlds of iphones and snoring.

Each song was different, from Labyrinth’s dark undertones, to guitar driven The Dancer’s cute backing vocals. Emotions evoked by the images and music often contrasted in a delightful way. The Night was “a song about romance in general” while upbeat Halo Around the Moon described, with tongue in cheek, a “perfect” relationship reflected by television. In Lolita, L!lburne’s adorable homage to Nabokov’s novel, the story’s namesake does not die in childbirth but grows up to become a world-wise soul singer.

L!lburne made a few “strategic departures” for Travers to feature. She played with a sophisticated freedom, expertly and expressively pushing and pulling tempo and dynamics. Her amazing solo piece Playback, created for ballet MANIA, uses a pedal to create swirling layers of polyphony that Travers trills, bounces and walks through. Renaissance featured an expressive solo from Grandison and her “Mafia song” was complimented by Gandharua’s Godfather impression (which earned a few “bravos” from the crowd).

The final piece was an aggressive blues rock song in which L!lburne’s bravely proclaimed “I’m a lonely old man, nobody wants me, nobody needs me.”

Campari Kid and the Siren of the Squeezebox were thoughtful as well as musical. The communication between the musicians was endearing and genuine. The collaboration embraced the talents of two writer composers who are unafraid of experimentation and honest expression.