Rae Morris, Brixton Electric, gig review: Striking stage presence matched with an unusual voice

Time will tell if the young singer-songwriter has a distinctive enough sound to set her apart from her contemporaries

Rae Morris performs at Brixton Electric (Sandra Ciampone)

At the age of 22, it's hard to believe Rae Morris has suffered the heart-ache she sings about with so much pain etched into her voice.

Two weeks after releasing her debut album, the singer-songwriter sounds genuine when she says she can't believe she’s playing to such a large audience, even asking “is this ok?” when she's cheered back for an encore.

Sitting behind the piano with porcelain skin and a huge mane of curly auburn hair, she has a striking stage presence matched by a deep, unusual voice.

Her sound borrows from Clean Bandit and London Grammar’s orchestra-electro-pop that has come to dominate the charts. “This Time” is performed with a double bass on stage as Morris’ vocals portray a hopeful optimism that bursts into despair.

At times her vocals seem lost behind the piano and she only begins to come into her own when she stands at the front of the stage. “Only the Shadows” then comes as the night's crescendo with all the dark drama of a Florence and the Machine performance.

Morris has also been compared to Ellie Goulding and Laura Marling, but only time will tell if her sound is distinctive enough to make a real name for herself.