Emmy the Great @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 23 January

Had Emmy the Great managed to strike while the iron was hot after her last show in this room – more than three years ago, in support of her gorgeous sophomore record, Virtue – we might be in a different, and much bigger, venue altogether tonight. Instead, it’s been a frustratingly sluggish wait for new solo material, with S, a four-track EP released days after this show, bringing to a close a protracted absence for Emma-Lee Moss.

There are sure signs of progression, at least; Moss, dressed all in white, is part of a three-piece lineup tonight. It suits the new cuts perfectly, especially Swimming Pool; all shimmering guitars and stuttering beats, it’s every bit as hauntingly pretty without the recorded vocal turn from Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts. Solar Panels, meanwhile, takes huge synths that could reasonably have been pinched from a Calvin Harris track and co-opts them quite brilliantly. 

If the plan, then, is for a longer release to follow S later in the year, we should probably also hope that the same principle applies to the live shows, because tonight’s set is over disconcertingly quickly. There’s a weird disconnect, too, between the main set and the encore; the inclusion of acoustic versions of pre-First Love cuts Canopies and Drapes and Edward Is Dedward during the latter jars. The former track in particular, with its myriad pop culture references, feels a little orphaned next to newer material, and it’s hard not to feel that more from Virtue would’ve fit better with S’s  more expansive sound. There should be plenty of time for that a little further down the road, though; for now, it’s just nice to have her back. [Joe Goggins]