Natalie Prass at Islington Assembly Hall

Natalie Prass
Chanele McGuinness
Islington Assembly Hall, 24 June 2015

One of the best albums of the year so far has to be Natalie Prass's self-titled debut, which is a glorious mixure of classic blue-eyed soul and 70s West Coast singer-songwriter fare. But other than Prass's sweet and delicate voice, the lady herself, who apparently hails from Virginia but is now based in Nashville, was something of a mystery to me. But crazily enough I had actually seen her live before, just didn't know it. It turns out that Prass was the keyboardist in Jenny Lewis' band and played this very same venue last year and she shakes her head as she tells us this, as if she can't quite believe it herself.

It's true that things have happened fast over the past year for Prass but if this show is anything to go by she more than deserves all her success. Although her face is partially obscured by a flowery

pattern on her album cover, when Prass emerges onto the stage in a simple black dress and sandals, it's quite clear that Prass is strikingly beautiful, part Audrey Hepburn and part Natalie Wood. She also has a natural stage presence that's confident but unshowy and talks to the crowd with charm and ease. Of course none of this would mean anything without the songs and, while her debut is only nine songs long, every one is superb. She starts the set with one of the best, the lovely Your Fool, which sounds like a lost 60s pop classic.

Prass' album is filled with strings and funky R&B-style horns but tonight she has just a three piece band backing her: a groovy bassist, a jazzy drummer and a guitarist, Trey Pollard, who just happened to co-produce and arrange all the strings on her record. This is probably why when she plays It Is You, the delightfully twee string-filled Disney-esque number that ends the album, it is beautifully turned into a stripped down, moody, guitar number complete with a epic building solo from Pollard that even Prass takes a seat to fully appreciate. It's obvious they wouldn't have been able to replicate the original orchestral sound of the song from the record ("unless there's a string quartet out there in the audience who knows the song?" Prass jokes) but somehow live this new version is even more powerful and definitely more sultry.

Most of the songs have more muscle live in fact, with Bird Of Prey in particular being performed with a seriously cool groove and Reprise, the almost spoken-word tale told over a flowerly but dramatic string background, is turned into a husky-voiced jazzy number with Prass amusingly cradling a Godzilla toy (she introduces the toy by telling us "I thought it would be really funny if Godzilla sounded like a chicken" and then giving us her impression in a fit of giggles).

Ryan Adams joins Natalie Prass on the song Violently

I did wonder though how Prass was going to fill a set given how few songs are on her debut but it turns out it was no problem at all as we were treated with, not only some top notch unusual covers, but also two new songs. The first, Last Time, sounds like it would have nicely fit on her first record but Jass (the title of which she said meant nothing but had recently discovered it was Dutch for coat) reminded me of Joni Mitchell during her jazz experimentations, with Prass almost scat singing over a fast frenetic backing.

There was a clue of what was to come later in the set when she broke out a Ryan Adams cover, turning the sweet country of Winding Wheel into something more soul-inspired, so it wasn't a huge surprise (there had been whispers of a special guest all night) when she introduced Adams, who she toured with earlier this year, to help her play a cover of Anita Baker's 80s soul classic Caught Up In The Rapture. This seamlessly segued into another cover, this time Janet Jackson's Any Time Any Place (I must admit this song was from after the time of my Janet obsession) and Prass introduced yet another surprise guest (this one I had no clue about), pop sensation Jessie Ware and I must say that Ware's velvety deep tones blended beautifully with Prass' girlish voice. All the way through these songs Adams stood in the shadows, head down with hair all over his face, simply playing guitar. I guess you have to admire the way he didn't try in any way to steal the limelight. It was absolutely a highlight though when he finally took his place by the microphone to help her sing Violently, a sweetly soulful ballad from the album, and Prass looked so delighted throughout I did wonder if there was something going on between them (Adams is recently divorced from Mandy Moore afterall), it certainly wouldn't be a bad match. After he left the stage, Prass even said that she had to catch her breath because he was such a handsome guy!

Prass with Alva Leigh

The guest appearances didn't end there either as Prass then invited up an old friend from Nashville who now lives in London, country singer Alva Leigh. The pair had recorded a cover of Joni Mitchell's classic Both Sides Now for Leigh's album In Nashville a few years back and they gamely attempted the song again alone on stage with just Prass on acoustic guitar. Because it had been years since they last performed it, understandably they kept forgetting the words, ending by changing the words to "I really don't know clouds - the song - at all" and laughing. It was definitely ramshackle but all the more charming for it.

She kept us waiting until the end for two of her best tracks, My Baby Don't Understand Me and Why Don't You Believe In Me, but it was certainly worth the wait, with Prass looking cool on guitar and proving that her vocals were not fragile at all (her voice is actually a lot stronger than you'd imagine live). For the encore Prass and her band returned to give us a sunny, feelgood version of The Supremes' You Keep Me Hanging On, which had everyone in the venue dancing and left us with no doubt that Natalie Prass is very special indeed.

Supporting Prass tonight was a rather delightful 22-year-old Irish singer-songwriter called Chanele McGuinness. This Donegal girl with her striking red hair and a cute black lace dress, obviously couldn't believe she was out on tour with an artist she admired, playing cool venues and was charmingly, awkward and sweet. Her voice really remined me of Californian folk singer Marie Sioux but of course with an Irish lilt and her songs were sad and sweet and one called Ghost - a song she said was her attempt to write a song about death that wasn't depressing - particularly stood out. After the show when I bought her EP she still looked like she was on cloud nine and couldn't believe people were buying her CDs. It was very sweet and I hope she makes it, she is certainly talented enough.

Chanele McGuinness