Blue smoke envelops a solitary figure. Brixton Academy rustles in anticipation. A spotlight gradually descends on the Nottingham troubadour. Jake Bugg glowers at the audience with deep-set eyes.

Acoustic guitar in hand, Jake launches into the moody existential crisis of ‘On my One’.It’s the title track of his third album; a musical endeavour in which he renounced co-writers. As Jake concludes his opening acoustic set by strumming through the saccharine ‘Simple As This’, it’s almost as sweet as the satisfaction of having exclusive song ownership. His battle for authenticity is over.

Switching to electric, he dials up the volume but not the mood. Loneliness and fruitless love pervade through funk single ‘Love, Hope And Misery’ while his vocals mourn high notes during ‘Never wanna dance’. There’s a brief respite in the lamenting for synth backed ‘Bitter Salt’. Jake wrangles out a confident guitar solo as the song builds to a crescendo and cuts off.

Pausing, he leans into the microphone and cordially thanks the crowd. Conscious of encouraging his sullen stereotype but at a loss for stage banter, Jake repeatedly expresses his gratitude in lieu of conversing.

The crowd accordingly rollick through Jake’s gritty ‘Gimme The Love’, but save their ardent reaction for Jake’s older tracks such as ‘Seen It All’ and ‘Two Fingers’. Its clear Jake hasn’t grown out of these early songs; the popularity of his debut album is still needed to maintain the gig’s momentum.

‘Broken’ is a prime example. The lights dapple gently and from the first finger-picked chord Jake owns the watery gaze of everyone in Brixton Academy. Tilting back his head he transcends into angelic realms while he howls solemnity. However, the illusion of his mortality breaks as he re-shoulders the electric for a rough n ready version of ‘Lightning Bolt’.

Jake Bugg doesn’t do encores. The set ends with a wish for more.