Tripping the light fantastic: Shura live in London

These words from Shura, before she plays a triumphant version of “Touch” get to the heart of who she is an artist - a mixture of humility and confidence, possessing an innate naturalness, likeability and poise that has accompanied her deservedly meteoric rise in 2016.

She’s played support slots in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall, and toured the US with childhood heroines Tegan and Sara. This summer her long-awaited Nothing’s Real delivered an incredible addition to the canon of pop albums, that sounded like a greatest hits compilation. The words muse on the nature of unrequited love and insecurity but are wrapped up in music that's so technicolour and joyous it doesn’t feel morose or self-pitying.

So tonight (7th December), at Kentish Town’s O2 Forum the atmosphere is one of celebration. The audience, with Christmas approaching, are demob happy and here as much to hear these pop songs as they are to pay their respects to a bonafide breakout star and homecoming heroine.

Wearing her trademark beanie hat, Shura, accompanied by her three piece band, walks on without airs or graces, at heart she’s one of the audience and her connection with them with them is obvious. Before a rousing “Kidz 'N' Stuff” she says “This is a big room, with lots of people…” what seemingly starts as an earnest speech turns into something more every day, another Shuraism (that’s got to be a word right?) “…for those of you that follow me on Twitter, there must be at least three of you, you’ll know I’ve have Shu-flu, but the Shu-flu is coming to an end!” And even though it's one of her slower songs the audience in the balcony are on their feet dancing. She ends it by throwing her beanie to the floor, as it segues seamlessly into the irresistible disco of “Indecision.”

The communal feeling is taken even further before “2Shy”, where she asks “Do we have any shy people in the crowd?” Shura then requests a show of hands and for the house lights to come up, before adding “I’m shy too, I don’t know why I picked this as a job but I love it, and this is for you.” As a sentiment it feels as beautifully genuine and heartfelt as her songs. As for the song itself, Prince certainly wouldn’t have penned such humble lyrics, but the tune and vocal melody would have fitted his pop aesthetic to a tee.

It’s not just the familiar on show tonight however, a new song “Sacrifice” gets an airing, simply introduced as ‘a song that’s not on the album’ and it reinforces everything that’s great about Shura, as catchy as you like, with lyrics that are relatable and universal.

The mood is so celebratory that even the fragility of “Touch” feels affirmatory, the delight of its love of pop music sees her jumping from the stage and singing with the front row. The sense of party continues with the encores, especially in light of the fact she doesn’t typically play them. A delirious “White Light” ends with a blizzard of confetti being fired into the audience.

It’ll be fascinating to see Shura next steps, given her perfectionist streak it may be a while before she finishes album number two but until then I’ll wait with baited breath to see what this masterful songwriter and performer comes up. For now, tonight was the perfect way to celebrate her brilliant year.