LUSAINT — 15/09/26

The rescheduled gig marks the London stop for the neo-soul, jazz pop artist’s first headline Europe and UK tour, after a whirlwind intro to the spotlight is brought into the physical realm following the last few years spent quietly racking up a strong social media presence and millions of streams on digital platforms, with her first original release in 2023.

Lusaint’s audience are a complete demographic mix. Likely the result of her viral covers, she draws in young, glammed up groups of friends keen for a dance to the handful of up-tempo tracks. But there’s also many older individuals dotted around the room, perhaps through her nod to more typical jazz and blues, particularly in the beautifully shuffling ‘Summertime’, which softly hushes the audience until each lyric is audible.

She dedicates new single ‘Tib Street’ to her Mancunian roots, before debuting its full band performance ahead of its release on Friday. Hopkins reminisces over the jazz club Matt & Phred’s located on the street in the city’s Northern Quarter, where she performed her first ever show. The track comes out alongside E.P. ‘Apothecary (Pt. 2)’, a follow-up to last year’s bundle of singles with the same name.

Alongside a setlist primarily taken from these two EPs, Lusaint performs covers of Paolo Nutini’s ‘Candy’, Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’, and Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’. Here is where her wonderfully textured voice is truly able to platform itself, especially in the latter, sung towards the end of the night with the full enthusiasm and talents of an infectiously passionate band. There’s an organic, easygoing chemistry on display, in particular with guitarist Bjorn Woodhall, noticeable through the micro-expressions that subtly shift the songs’ dynamics and bring a quasi-improv feel to the gig, no doubt developed over those early Tib Street days.

Despite these covers forming some of the evening’s highlights, Lusaint must be careful not to let them define her artistry. Whilst her performances of these notoriously difficult tracks bring goosebumps, it’s challenging to get a sense of Lusaint’s identity through them. That seems to be something she is still learning herself.

Lusaint’s confidence visibly grows with encouragement from her band and audience, building to her ‘Love Bites Back’ crescendo – an assured original released earlier this year to critical acclaim and radioplay. After a brief step off stage, she returns to perform ‘Remember Me’, a song she says is one of her favourites to sing live, despite knowing most of the room won’t be familiar with it. Her instincts are correct, delivering a fearless finale that, as she predicted, we’re looking up on the way home. 

Lusaint has an undeniably brilliant voice… one her songwriting can’t yet stand up to. Her talent is unmissable, but for now, its impact is muted. Early Olivia Dean gigs come to mind; phone videos of a pure voice that’s waiting for the surrounding elements to catch up in what retrospectively looks like an inevitable success story.

It’s clear to see that there is so much more wanting to come out. What Lusaint needs now is her ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ moment, her ‘Warwick Avenue’; an unforgettable song that defines her voice and her artist statement.

If Lusaint can grant herself permission to truly go for it, embody her original songs with an all-encompassing ethos, and allow the necessary time to refine her sonic and aesthetic identity, she may well be onto something.