Heat no match for cool Laneway Festival Laneway Festival. Alt-J performing on the Museum Stage. Lead singer Nick Albrook and Pond. FESTIVALS and 40C are generally a match made in hell, but while it was hotter than that eternal inferno down at the Perth Cultural Centre, the overall mood at the fifth annual Laneway Festival was remarkably chilled out. Attracting a sold-out crowd of about 8000 people, the inner city festival showcased an array of so-called alternative music across four stages. This year's major drawcards included Icelandic pop darlings Of Monsters & Men, UK alt rockers Alt-J and 21-year-old Sydney bedroom producer Flume. But it was the awe-inspiring musical brilliance of Divine Fits and Chet Faker's honest and of the minute sound that provided those sublime moments. With the mercury soaring, most punters waited until mid afternoon to brave the heat. For those willing to risk melting, local up-and-comers Rainy Day Women and Norwegian folk duo Kings of Convenience provided two good reasons to get in early. The pockets of leafy shade were still in high demand by the time Real Estate took to the Museum Stage to provide a sunny soundtrack of low-fi melodic pop rock at 3.30pm. We braved the sun to check out El-P, who masterfully controlled the crowd while a full band gave his album "Cancer 4 Cure" plenty of live punch. A little sea breeze was starting to tease us with her charms as we sung along to The Ruben track "My Gun." An impressive crowd proved willing to abandon the shaded spots to make the trek over to the Eat Your Own Ears stage where local psychedelic rockers Pond were playing their last gig of the year. The band, which features two members of Tame Impala, will be having a gigging hiatus while Tame continues to pursue world domination. It was fitting then that Tame band leader Kevin Parker stood side of stage watching his mates lapping up the Pond love. This group of likely lads have a charm all of their own and it was hard to keep the smile from your dial as they rolled out tracks like "Fantastic Explosions of Time" and "You Broke My Cool." The band, who were joined on stage by dancer extraordinaire "Green Man" were great fun and perfect festival fodder. Of Monsters and Men's pervasive hit "Little Talks" was always going to be a winner in the festival environment. With punchy horns, a catchy melody and punctuating shouts of "hey," it went off like a frog in a sock. The beguiling vocal harmonies of Nanna Hilmarsdottir, who bears more than just a passing resemblance to fellow countrywoman Bjork, and Ragnar Porhallsson were showcased beautifully down at the gorgeous Museum Stage. It was splitting hairs to try and guess who out of Of Monsters and Men and Alt-J secured the biggest crowd. For my money I would say it was Alt-J, but while the UK band put on an impressive show, their introspective, quieter moments got swallowed up in the hum of idle chatter. Great band, but probably the wrong environment. All the same there were plenty of voices raised in chorus with frontman Joe Newman as he showed off his unique vocal stylings on "Breezeblocks." Riding high on his current ARIA chart success, Flume aka Harley Streten, seemed to be having a blast behind his computer screens. However one man doesn't quite fill a stage in the same way a band can and his set lacked dynamism. We only managed to catch the tale end of Flume because it was physically impossible to drag ourselves away from the musical masterclass that was happening down at the Eat Your Own Ears Stage courtesy of Divine Fits. It was all pretty damn wow. The band, which comprises of Spoon frontman Britt Daniel on vocals and bass and Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner on guitar and vocals, were tighter than a hipster's jeans, blitzing every song and then some. "Thanks for coming over to our little corner," Daniel said. No thank you, what a pleasure. Chet Faker was the second revelation to grace the Eat Your Own Ears stage. The Melbourne musician, real name Nicholas Murphy, achieves a thoroughly modern sound while clearly acknowledging his musical lineage in soul, jazz and even Motown and folk influences. His deep, soaring voice had the assembled crowd, the largest to gather at the Eat Your Own Ears stage, hanging on his every word. "I'm Into You" was simply incredible. With only a single EP, "Thinking in Textures," to his name, Chet Faker is someone Australia is going to be hearing a lot more from in the future. We tried to get into the Spiegeltent for Alpine, but there was no way another living soul was squeezing inside, so like many others we had to be content with sitting outside and listening to the super sweet sounds. At least we could breathe freely. It was left to Bat for Lashes, aka Natasha Khan to close the festival. While Laneway is an equal opportunity type festival with no clear headliner, Khan proved a worthy choice as the show closer. Her audience size didn't match that of Alt-J or Of Monsters & Men, but her sound and theatrics are wholly suited to the night. As she flapped her shiny red cape, her voice soaring into the darkness, she was like a strange exotic bird that only comes out when the moon is high in the sky. "But I was empty as a grave and ghostless was the air," she sung on "Lilies" sending shivers up and down our spines. It may have felt like we were dancing in hell, but Laneway came close to heaven on several occasions.