'A mature and accomplished artist who still knows how to have a good time'
Andrew Trendell
11:27 22nd January 2014

As the refined Sophie Ellis-Bextor stands so elegantly on the stage of the quaint and charming Bush Hall, she is simultaneously proud and powerful - yet also a little bit more heartfelt and emotional than in previous years. Essentially, she’s not trying to create murder on the dancefloor.

The way she holds herself in a lovely white outfit, similar to the one she’s wearing on the cover of her newly released fifth record, Wanderlust, is perfect for the launch of said album. She’s poised enough to deliver the soaring, heartfelt ballads and tinkering tales on the new release.

Lead single ‘Young Blood’ gives Ellis-Bextor a perfect chance to show off her refined and powerful voice as she sings with whole hope in her eyes: “yeah, it’s alright you give me young blood.”

It is when this happens that you realise why it is so easy to be enraptured by Sophie’s music - she is incredible at telling stories. She makes you eager to be adventurous and explore all life around you in an inspiring, unpretentious and inviting manner.

The rest of the record is played in much the same vein. Her heart-breaking rendition of new song ‘Cry To The Beat Of The Band’ bewitches the audience into being still and appreciating her ability to conjure up a range of powerful emotions with such great restraint. It is truly compelling to see such a mature performance of highly vulnerable and sensitive tracks.

But whilst Sophie Ellis-Bextor makes ‘Wanderlust’ sound dazzling and beautiful on stage, her encore performance of ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ makes the crowd dance in a frenzy and proves that this 34 year-old mother of three knows how to have a good time in amongst all that emotion.