Nina Nesbitt @ The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 22 May

The night begins with support act Au/Ra, a young American girl whose turquoise hair is reminiscent of a mermaid. Unfortunately, that’s where the creative energy stops. Her cover of New Rules showcases her obviously beautiful and talented voice well, but that is the most we hear of it. The unbalanced set up of mic levels and the pulsing, deep electronic dance effect that is sporadically thrown into many of the songs, plus the lack of articulation, leaves most lyrics undecipherable. Evidently quite young, the confusing arrangement of each song and the inarticulate lyrics could be due to lack of experience. Fortunately for Au/Ra, the material does have promise; with some re-structuring and new lyrics, she could even become the edgy Ariana Grande that her choreographed dancing so heavily hints at.

Nina Nesbitt turns the night in a full 360 though. Beginning backstage, her stunning voice precedes her as the lyrics for Sacred soar over the crowd. Having grabbed everyone’s attention instantaneously, the next tune, The Moments I'm Missing, is accompanied by at least half of the people in The Liquid Room singing along. It becomes evident that every single person in this audience is a die-hard fan of the Edinburgh-born singer. The Best You Had is preceded by an anecdotal explanation of the song that shows tell-tale signs of being based on reality. The audience are laughing, wooping and booing along to all of her prompts, while the story is soundtracked by Jamie on piano. Empire, taken from Nesbitt’s as-of-yet unreleased new album is next, providing some insight to the path that Nesbitt has decided to take her musical style down. It is very well-received, with well-honed electronic effects adding an element of currency to her style.

The rest of the set shows off Nesbitt’s musical talent, as she switches from keys to guitar to a side drum all while singing throughout many of the songs. Throwback moments, including The Apple Tree and Mr C, have us feeling like we've time-travelled back to 2014 where it all started. Nesbitt’s style has developed since then and, despite the set jumping back and forth from old to new material, her stage presence, welcoming attitude and stylistically high voice provide a cohesive form that make the night feel like an expressive journey through Nesbitt’s life.

At one point, Nesbitt tells the audience that she enjoyed solely songwriting for a while but she missed performing, which she is why she is back on the stage with a new album coming soon. Nesbitt has certainly made the right choice to return; she is an exceptional performer with wit, style, presence and an original flair that hooks everyone into her poppy tunes.