Gliding seamlessly between baroque-pop and blues, symphonic disco and soul on her recent debut album, Blood, Kelsey Lu taught listeners to expect the unexpected. Last night, the singer and multi-instrumentalist upped the ante, with a show as bewildering as it was beautiful.
Sauntering onstage from the auditorium’s rear, face obscured by a pearly headdress, the North Carolina native had us rapt with her dreamy cover of 10cc’s I’m Not In Love. It proved the set’s most faithful rendition, foregrounding Lu’s love of experimentation.
Without an orchestra, Lu relied on Rhodes piano, jazzy percussion, cello pizzicato and vocal manipulation to reimagine her songs. Barely perceptible breaks between tunes were accentuated with atypical phrasing, and as Lu slipped between spoken and sung passages it felt like we were seeing a disorientating piece of performance art.
Peeling an orange mid-set, the eccentric star wondered aloud: “Am I too much?” She is an unforgettable, virtuosic talent.
The London gigs you absolutely have to see in 2019
