Jesca Hoop @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 28 Mar

If there’s one thing you can count on with a Jesca Hoop record, it’s to expect the unexpected. A songwriter who clearly loves to bend the 'rules' – an unexpected harmony, a wayward change of tempo, a lyric so piercingly honest that it leaves you slightly stunned. However, when it comes to the live show, you can safely expect to be impressed.

Hoop is with her full band this evening, deftly filling out the sound with intense harmonies, bass, synth and sensitive drums, whilst allowing space for her characteristically bare and beautiful finger-picking. There’s a healthy focus on new album, Memories Are Now. It’s a defiant statement of a record, documenting her worldly observations from the plight of life online to questions over religious scare-mongering. The real gem is The Coming – a beautiful lament which tells a story of Jesus renouncing his crown of thorns. She's on good form, with a decent mix from her back catalogue – including a triumphant appearance from fan favourite Born To.  

Watching Jesca Hoop feels a bit like hanging out in your living room, as she chats openly to the audience throughout. As ever, she’s full of sardonic wit; all Brexit condolences and jabs at the North/South divide. After years of living in Manchester, her wily people-watching skills have entrenched her well into British idiosyncrasy.

Hoop’s vocal technique might not be perfect – as she points out by mock-shunning any vocal coaches in the audience – but it has honesty, charisma and vulnerability, delivering her astute tales with candour. This, coupled with a brilliant penchant for capturing the characters around her, makes her one of the most interesting voices of our generation.