Great Hall, Cardiff University Students Union, Sat 8 Dec
***
Few stars reach Mabel McVey’s level of success with so few projects. With just a couple of EPs out and her debut album still languishing somewhere in the nonspecific future, the British r’n’b star opened for Harry Styles earlier this year, and her own headline tour has seen her sell out academies up across the UK.
In spite of illness, McVey delivers her set with measured confidence. She doesn’t bounce with quite as much enthusiasm as her two manic backup dancers – I’m not sure anyone physically could – but her vocals shine through when it counts. Recent single One Shot is dropped early into the evening, and sounds just as good live as it does on record.
The audience becomes an ocean of phone screens for My Lover, McVey’s collaboration with London afrobashment rapper Not3s (sadly not present here tonight). Chart hit Finders Keepers earns the same response, but otherwise energy levels remain steady, though certainly never quiet. At under an hour, it’s lean but fun set, and one that promises greater things to come.