Participating in the third of Alphabetti’s three-week long ‘Women are mint’ festival, Georgia May’s stripped back, soul-high, vibe fits perfectly with tonight’s desire to step out of a cold November evening and into the laid-back surroundings of the venue’s lounge and bar area. Performing as a two piece, with support from her keys/production/key musician Daps, May’s sound tonight is designed to hang loose – gentle beats and background piano providing sufficient space for the focus of the evening to be on May’s superb, soul-driven, vocals. Standing out with blissed-out versions of Soul Sister and Fire, it’s nevertheless the jazzy Hesitation which steals the show tonight thanks to its light synth drum textures and delicate jazz-piano undercurrent, both combing to blow through the room with the groove heavy delivery and style of an early period PM Dawn. A couple of reimagined covers, including a smooth delivery of Valerie, and a dance-party-starting version of Crazy, provide further evidence of how effective May’s production and set is; every texture and sound being precisely placed to support the star of tonight – her voice. Somewhere earlier in the night May suggests that her a voice is healing from a cold; you’d have never guessed that in a million years.
