CityLife

The Noisettes

The Noisettes
Academy
March 2, 2010

You must know you've made it after selling out virtually every Manchester venue in a year, all off the back of one short album. Short but sweet, of course. Nevertheless, since the Noisettes' breakthrough record Wild Young Hearts hit the shelves last year, the London trio barely seem to have left Manchester's gig circuit.

Singer Shingai Shoniwa even opens their set by name-checking a few recent showcases, purring: “It's wonderful to have done the rounds. To have done the Night and Days, the Ruby Lounges... to be here for you all.”

Add to that the the Ritz, Deaf Institute and all the rest, and you might think the city's entire gig-going public had been there, done that. And perhaps they have, but the Academy is rammed to the rafters anyway.

They don't go away disappointed. Tonight the Noisettes – hopefully named after the sweet, glittery green noisette triangle of Quality Street fame, but who knows – utterly dazzle.

A sumptuous backdrop of draped gold lame curtains and photographers' lights lend an old-world Hollywood glamour to proceedings, while Shoniwa's old-fashioned, husky voice has shades of Beth Gibbons from Portishead, maybe even Eartha Kitt.

But her performance is still entirely her own, a seductive blend of jazz, pop, burlesque and soul. Most striking is that they manage to play a two-hour set from only one well-known album, but that's where the fun begins.

The real pizazz is to be had in their covers. How about a jazzed up gospel version of When You Were Young by the Killers? There is no band I loathe more, yet I loved it – and so did my Killers-listening friend.

Meanwhile their beautiful, popped-up version of Pure Imagination from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory might actually be a stroke of genius.

But the most charming thing about the Noisettes – and they are totally, seductively charming – is that they are so grateful to the crowd. Shoniwa repeatedly thanks us, singing that without us she “wouldn't have a job”.

During the encore, she even appears at the back for one song, so everyone gets a go. And that's the loveliest thing of all about the Noisettes – they don't quite know they've made it, but they definitely have.

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