Hyper-erotic fuelled optimism
Harrison Smith
16:12 16th March 2022

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Hot on the heels of her BRIT nomination, Hackney-born artist Bree Runway returned to the capital in a high energy blaze of glory on Monday night (14 March). Packed to the rafters with adoring fans, London's Brixton Electric shook with her brand of hyper-erotic fuelled optimism. Across a sprawling setlist of fan favourites, new material and deep cuts, Bree (real name Brenda Wireko Mensah) made her case for 2022's most exciting new artist. 

The lights dim and a boom of radio static rings through the venue. A guitarist shreds their way through the opening chord progression of set-list-opening hit single 'Apeshit'. Lighting the fuse of what is to come, Bree leaps onstage, jutting her body left and right; the wail of the crowd is something to behold. 

Seven years into her career, Bree Runway finds herself in the form of a high octane-wise-cracking skittish persona hell-bent on bringing the noise. No more so than on the swagger filled ear-worm that is 'ATM', taken from her debut EP. "Who likes money?" she asks before the backdrop is illuminated in a black and gold shower of cash. A track oozing wanton poise becomes the stand-out track of the evening. Starting the song acapella, with assistance from the crowd, she explodes into the song's hook sparking up the room in elation.

Her charisma is enviable, confidently commanding the stage with enthusiasm and fiery demeanour. Bree has all the moxie and bluster of a heavyweight boxer. Joined throughout by a well-choreographed dance troupe to accompany her splintering delivery, there's little room to rest between songs. She occasionally pauses to speak to the crowd. "You make my life so important, so special", she says before introducing the as-of-yet unreleased track 'Someone Like You', a sentimental acrobat display of Bree's underrated vocal abilities. 

Not long do the sombre emotions last: "Enough of the sad shit, let's get back to the party" she says, and we're thrown again into the frantic mix of sex, money, fashion and detonative shindigs. 

A tight hour's set wraps up her career so far smartly. With enough room for playfulness, showmanship and joy, Bree Runway's defining set at Brixton Electric is the launchpad for the rocket ship that is her career. Bree Runway looks purely unstoppable, an album in the pipeline, a dedicated fanbase, and all the makings of a future icon.

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Photo: Robert Stainforth