*Royal Festival Hall, London*
Post-Winehouse retro-jazz singer Caro Emerald already has a No 1 album under her belt, and even wider fame looks likely
No 1 albums aren't always the preserve of the hip: the Dutch jazz-pop singer Caro Emerald got one this spring after extensive Radio 2 airplay and a guest spot on Strictly Come Dancing. Accordingly, this Festival Hall audience is no drink-spilling pop crowd, and a few may even be unnerved by the sight of a DJ, drafted in to provide a pinch of hip-hop seasoning. Still, they're loud in their approval, making it a safe bet that her next push – an arena tour in March 2014 – will bring her closer to major stardom.
Emerald is perhaps the most easily digested of the retro-jazz/soul vocalists that have followed in Amy Winehouse's wake. Aside from a dry sense of humour, she's largely free of the quirks that defined Winehouse and successors such as Paloma Faith and VV Brown – yet, somehow, she's far from aural wallpaper. And that is remarkable: on her album, The Shocking Miss Emerald, she's a mannered retroista; on stage, it dawns that there's a personality there, presiding with panache over the big-band flourishes and squawking tangos. Though she coyly directs attention to her eight-piece band, who are "really young, handsome men in suits, with saxophones"– the salsa-hop My 2 Cents was even written about the floppy-fringed guitarist, apparently – she's too cracking a singer to fade into the background.
Jazzed up by neon projections and pillars of lights, the set bounces along. Her go-to sound is the bossa nova of her best-known song, Tangled Up, but on Wonderful in You there's a persuasive descent into Lana Del Reyish darkness; elsewhere, the cinematic brassiness of I Belong to You makes sense when she reveals it was inspired by her dream of "doing the James Bond theme one day". Judging by tonight, that day that may well come.
• Did you catch this gig – or any other recently? Tell us about it using #GdnGig
Rating: 4/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 days ago.
Post-Winehouse retro-jazz singer Caro Emerald already has a No 1 album under her belt, and even wider fame looks likely
No 1 albums aren't always the preserve of the hip: the Dutch jazz-pop singer Caro Emerald got one this spring after extensive Radio 2 airplay and a guest spot on Strictly Come Dancing. Accordingly, this Festival Hall audience is no drink-spilling pop crowd, and a few may even be unnerved by the sight of a DJ, drafted in to provide a pinch of hip-hop seasoning. Still, they're loud in their approval, making it a safe bet that her next push – an arena tour in March 2014 – will bring her closer to major stardom.
Emerald is perhaps the most easily digested of the retro-jazz/soul vocalists that have followed in Amy Winehouse's wake. Aside from a dry sense of humour, she's largely free of the quirks that defined Winehouse and successors such as Paloma Faith and VV Brown – yet, somehow, she's far from aural wallpaper. And that is remarkable: on her album, The Shocking Miss Emerald, she's a mannered retroista; on stage, it dawns that there's a personality there, presiding with panache over the big-band flourishes and squawking tangos. Though she coyly directs attention to her eight-piece band, who are "really young, handsome men in suits, with saxophones"– the salsa-hop My 2 Cents was even written about the floppy-fringed guitarist, apparently – she's too cracking a singer to fade into the background.
Jazzed up by neon projections and pillars of lights, the set bounces along. Her go-to sound is the bossa nova of her best-known song, Tangled Up, but on Wonderful in You there's a persuasive descent into Lana Del Reyish darkness; elsewhere, the cinematic brassiness of I Belong to You makes sense when she reveals it was inspired by her dream of "doing the James Bond theme one day". Judging by tonight, that day that may well come.
• Did you catch this gig – or any other recently? Tell us about it using #GdnGig
Rating: 4/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 days ago.