robert delong

Gently strumming an electric guitar as he sang sentiments of admiration during his song “That’s What We Call Love,” Robert DeLong — with a neon-green-painted face — was switching up his style.

The audience, with a handful of phones out to nab a picture of the moment, stood in hushed awe as DeLong’s voice delicately floated through the crowd of about 200 people who huddled together in U Street Music Hall on Thursday night. It was a stripped-down moment you wouldn’t expect, judging by DeLong’s music — best described as a hodgepodge of EDM, indie-pop and alt-rock elements stitched together with a focus on thick, throbbing bass and oft-philosophical lyricism.

But that moment seemed just as natural for the 29-year-old singer-songwriter as the rest of his hourlong set, which featured an intensely focused DeLong looping live vocals on a soundboard, altering his recordings with a Wiimote and GameCube controller and occasionally whipping the audience into a near-frenzy during vigorous drum solos accompanied by guttural synths.

It would be a surprising performance for most electronic dance musicians, but for DeLong, it only highlights his unique role in the constantly evolving realm of computerized music.

[ READ MORE: An interview with Robert DeLong ]

DeLong was first introduced to music at age 10, when his father taught him how to play drums. In high school he played in various punk and jazz bands. At first, he wasn’t a fan of electronic music, and his passion for the genre didn’t blossom until his friend took him to a rave.

“Before that, I never quite understood why people liked electronic music,” he said. “Immediately after [the rave], I came home and started producing music and took a lot of the songs I had been writing to that point and I introduced dance music elements to it, and that’s what brought me up to where I am now.”

Where DeLong is now — two LP’s, two EP’s and about 1.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify— is impressive, considering that before him, there was hardly a market for his strange musical style and lyricism, which challenges the notion that dance music is most accessible when it’s centered on love, sex and partying.

The lyric-driven style of his music is wholly apparent in the majority of his songs, from the existential ponderings of his first hit “Global Concepts” (“I think it burns my sense of truth/ to hear me shouting at my youth”) to the embrace-life-while-you-can message of “Long Way Down” (“In the end, the end / Everything will go / So take it in, don’t hold your breath / The bottom’s all I found”).

What’s also noticeable is DeLong places extra emphasis on having music that melds well together in its themes and sonics, both in his live performances and his two albums — 2013’s Just Movement and his Sept. 18 release, In The Cards. Songs seamlessly transition from one to the next on LPs and during concerts, making DeLong’s discography feel like a musical journey through the peaks and valleys of his innermost thoughts.

That well-knit and captivating style of music stems from DeLong’s musical inspirations during his formative years.

“I grew up listening to some of my favorite albums like Sgt. Pepper’s by The Beatles and Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd,” he said. “The albums felt like an experience from start to finish, and I always enjoyed that.”

The main difference between In The Cards and Just Movement — aside from the amount of time that went into each project, with the former taking 18 months and the latter spanning more than five years — is that his latest release maintains his trademark cohesion while boasting more potential singles. Tracks like “Pass Out,” with its heavy bass swipes, and the fast-paced “Better Days” are potential hits that stack up with “Don’t Wait Up” and “Long Way Down” as the album’s standout tunes.

His performances of songs off his new record, as well as any passing mention of it, elicited raucous cheers from those in attendance. Audience members could match DeLong word-for-word on nearly every song, new or old, an impressive deed considering that about half of the tracks in his set had been out for less than a week.

Dripping in sweat as the night came to an end, DeLong flashed a wide smile to the crowd during his closing performance of “Long Way Down.” A few girls frantically pushed themselves to the front of the stage, a mother and daughter excitedly bobbed their heads and DeLong broke multiple drum sticks on a final unyielding minute of beats.

As the crowd filed out of the smallish venue back into the streets of Washington, everyone undoubtedly had ringing ears and sore feet, but no one seemed to be complaining. Contented with a night of wild music, DeLong said he hoped a future musician among the crowd might have just received some much-needed inspiration.

“In the end, I think good art perpetuates good art,” he said. “Those things feed into each other, so hopefully if someone thinks my shit is good, they’ll make some good shit.”