Ezra Furman at The Lexington, London, review

The sense that spectators were watching a future superstar was hard to suppress

(Rex)

The trajectory of Ezra Furman has been a joy to behold over the past five years: an American singer-songwriter whose stripes have been earned playing independent venues, experimental one-man shows and festival-stealing sets, each as rapturously-received as the last.

The Chicagoan has returned to London, a city he clearly reveres, to play two sold-out shows to “the people who use social media most and fastest” in tiny King’s Cross venue the Lexington, for the first of two warm-up shows ahead of a date at O2 Academy Brixton in March.

For fans of Furman, the setting – a crowded room full of diehard 6Music listeners and industry folk – was the perfect place to hear fresh material from new record Transangelic Exodus, if too bustling to fully enjoy.

The audience roared their approval as Furman candidly stated his pride over the 13 tracks to feature on the finished product while remaining static as the self-branded “songstress” enchanted with the lullaby hum of standouts “From a Beach House” and “Psalm 151”.

It was the adrenaline shot of Day of the Dog tracks “Anything Can Happen” and “Tell ‘em All to go to Hell” which got the crowd’s muscles moving, the Green Day guitar-thrash and Chuck Berry rock’n’roll sounds conjured ever-capably by his trusty collective, The Visions.

As Furman reeled off lyrics about orange peels and losing his innocence to a boy named Vincent, the sense that spectators were watching a future superstar was hard to suppress.