Foxes - Koko, London 21/05/14

23 May 2014, 13:15 | Written by George O'Brien

(Live)

(Foxes)

Treading the line between manufactured, X-Factor-style celebrity and credible pop artist is something of a challenge. What’s more, there doesn’t seem to be a recognised formula for succeeding; the so-called blogosphere often leads the way, influencing the opinion of the masses from the outset and making a call on which side of the aforementioned fence an artist should fall. One simple rule really matters and dictates this however: are the songs any good? When it comes to tonight’s performer, the songs are good, very good.

Louisa Rose Allen - aka Foxes - appeared as an enormous pink splodge on our radar at the back-end of 2012 with tracks like “Echo” serving as major tone-setters for her “special” debut record Glorious. On top of this sparkling first full-length, Allen has toured with Marina & The Diamonds, collaborated with Rudimental and Fall Out Boy and even won a Grammy (for her featuring slot on Zedd’s 74 million YouTube views and counting track “Clarity”). Tonight she celebrates the release of Glorious with a sell-out show at London’s KOKO; no doubt she could have shifted the allocation for a number of the Capital’s bigger venues.

Following a revved-up, rousing support slot from up-and-coming Glasgow synth-pop trio Prides, Allen appears in front of lights spelling-out her monika, scantily clad in white, a flowing long cardigan that sweeps the floor giving her something of an angelic air and bunny ears, which plays up to the youthful theme throughout everything she does. Indeed “Youth” - the brilliant, anthemic, 90’s tinged pop smash - flies out early in the piece and remains one of her strongest outings.

Surrounded by a proper band, including warm vocal accompaniment from backing-singers - something all-too rare in the electronically infused pop shows - Foxes bounds and spins around the stage with a carefree innocence that again harks back to the running theme of her work. A crowd-pleasing mash-up of Pharrell Williams’ über-hit “Happy” and the iconic “Teardrop” goes some way to summing-up her position in the market: she attracts a diverse plethora music fans with appreciation for sing-along pop as well as a left of mainstream sound.

Her slower rendition of the aforementioned “Clarity” brings a level of respite from the head-bopping pop, while “Echo”, “Night Owls” and set-closer “Let Go For Tonight” - which still sounds like a chart-topping, blisteringly satisfying hit - provide further highlights and exemplify the solidity of her small catalogue; there are a lot of tracks you feel are instantly familiar and the packed venue react accordingly.

Sure, the performance could use a little something - a tiny bit more ‘oomph’, visuals and maybe a proper acoustic, ballad could all add to the show (think Katy Perry, Taylor Swift) - but there can be little doubt that Foxes is in a Glorious position to take the world by storm. Anthemic, sing-along pop songs are a constant feature in her armoury and her easy, attention-grabbing stage-presence mean Allen has everything in place; she’s not just treading the line between credible and manufactured, she’s stomping along it brilliantly - and everyone’s singing along.