Bill Ryder-Jones @ Woodland Creatures, Edinburgh, 11 Jun

Bill Ryder-Jones may be playing smaller venues than during the height of success with The Coral but the talent certainly hasn’t diminished. Since parting ways with the band the 32-year-old has taken a decidedly lo-fi route, which fits in perfectly with the living room atmosphere found at Woodland Creatures tonight, albeit one with fairy lights.

Support tonight comes from fellow Northerner Tom Joshua who, with the backing of cellist Harriet Bradshaw, gets the already-crowded room in the mood for the intimate, stripped back gig.

There’s plenty of time for more people to pack into the venue before Ryder-Jones takes to the stage for his solo set which begins in comical fashion. Emerging from the backstage area to the strains of Happy Monday’s Step On, Ryder-Jones waves to the back of the room to get a non-existent sound engineer to turn it off and let him play before leaving the stage and coming back on again.

The crowd, which has been in chatty and boisterous high spirits, is hushed into rapt silence as Ryder-Jones finally begins to play. Throughout the set there's an intensity in Ryder-Jones’ playing that is slightly counteracted by his easy demeanour in chatting with the crowd. Songs from his latest release, West Kirby County Primary go down best with the crowd.

The understated nature of this show allows the lyrics to be centre stage meaning their subtlety and poignancy shine through. It’s unfortunate that Ryder-Jones will always be known as the former Coral guitarist when his solo work has at least as much to give as his erstwhile band does.