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Olivia Dean review – pop-soul singer proves she was born for big stages

Delicately sipping a Red Stripe and accompanied by a seven-piece band, the Brit School grad loosens up her Mercury prize-nominated album with radiant star power

The 25-year-old musician is just three songs into her largest headline tour so far, and Echo – last year’s suave, soulful pop single about possibly misplaced trust – is a chic foil for her glamorous, Supremes-style choreography and her chemistry with her charismatic seven-piece band. On record Messy can feel too manicured, but tonight its tracks bloom in the light of Dean’s radiant stage presence and that luxuriously large band (increasingly rare in today’s touring economy). The set lingers too long on a stripped-back middle section, although the hush highlights Dean’s creamy voice, and when the full band reunites behind tracks such as Carmen, dedicated to her Guyanese grandmother and the “bravery of immigrants”, it feels like a street party.

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