Sigrid review, Brixton Academy, London: Norwegian pop singer is a charismatic ball of energy

She never walks when she could run, skip or swagger. There are a few recurring moves: a moonwalk hop, a sort of sideways, foot-splayed shimmy, and an extended trot reminiscent of an enthusiastic dressage horse

Sigrid commands the vast stage like she's played such venues all her life (Redferns/Getty)

For a popstar, Sigrid is resolutely unflashy. Onstage, she wears plain T-shirts, hoodies and, if it’s cold, a sensible waterproof jacket; her sets are minimalist and spacious. Here, although it is her biggest UK show to date and a more ostentatious set-up might have been tempting, she doesn’t deviate from that formula. It works out well. From the way the diminutive 22-year-old commands her vast stage, you’d think she’d been playing venues like this one all her life.

Besides, the lack of clutter, and the sensible outfit – she’s opted for a white T-shirt and wide-legged, bottle-green trousers – better facilitate Sigrid’s outlandish dance moves. She never walks when she could run, skip or swagger. There are a few recurring moves: a moonwalk hop, a sort of sideways, foot-splayed shimmy, and an extended trot reminiscent of an enthusiastic dressage horse. Sometimes, with her clicking and jiving, she looks like she teleported here from an Eighties exercise video. It’s infectious.

Most arresting, though, is Sigrid’s supple, gargantuan voice: tight-throated and staccato one moment, silky and slick the next. “Sucker Punch”, with its flattened pre-chorus and bombastic bridge, sounds fantastic live. As does “High Five”, a song about the dangers of sycophancy. “Don’t Kill My Vibe” – a thrillingly brazen takedown, seemingly of a disappointing ex but actually of a bunch of older men who once patronised her in a writing session – is predictably gratifying.

“I’m about to make you feel terrible, so sorry about that,” she announces before the raspy, elastic heartbreaker “Dynamite” – but she does no such thing.

Sigrid topped the BBC Music Sound of 2018 poll at the start of this year. Clearly, that sound can’t be rushed: she’s still not released an album, nor even announced one. The risk of having more success than songs, of course, is that the setlist can feel a little thin. Indeed, just for a moment, a run of less impressive songs renders the atmosphere a little staid.

But Sigrid, a charismatic whirligig of energy, soon high-kicks things back into action. A little more material and her live shows will be exceptional.