Electric, Brixton
“It’s quite strange…but I liked it!”
Fresh off the back of her supporting role on Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts tour, Remi Wolf treats the capital’s audience to her first bespoke show in almost 2 years - rifling through her latest worlds of pop-funk, soul, and a hint of disco.
Tonight imminently contrasts starkly to her debut appearance here a number of years ago: from the cramped corners of Hackney’s confined Moth Club; now perched 'strangely' above the audience, swooning like Dolly Parton to the amazed masses at the set's genesis. Before long, the glittery, disco-tinged pop hit ‘Cinderella’ is unleashed to those dance-persuaded, offering an enticing vignette into Wolf’s newly-conjured world for her upcoming LP, Big Ideas. Shining and simmering to sumptuous basslines and funky guitar twangs a-la Anderson .Paak, MGMT and Jessie Ware, Wolf effortlessly stamps her daringly tongue-in-cheek facade across its backdrop, brimming with a carefree confidence (“Me and the boys in the hotel lobby”).
Whilst further instrumentals, beyond the lone guitarist and drummer on-stage, prove lacking and lacklustre, Wolf’s infectious stage presence and magnanimous vocal chops undoubtedly carry the rest of her latest hits, including ‘Toro’, ‘Alone in Miami’, as well as her previous indie-shoegaze throwback, ‘Michael’. The latter seethes with a righteous, voice-belter conviction (Whitney Houston would be proud) as the former glistens and gleams with a pristine modern twist on pop-soul, sensually-steamed for a more mature audience compared to Rodrigo’s (“I’m horny and I’m not worried about the sound”).
Wolf’s venture into her back catalogue garners even further applause. ‘Woo!’ and ‘Shawty’ both lean heavily into the bedroom-pop days of her younger years, whilst ‘Photo ID’ and ‘Disco Man’ close out the evening with an exuberant-as-ever expression of modern pop, unleashed from this artist’s insatiable vocal range. Confiding in the equally-eccentric, sex-driven crowd, Wolf visibly appreciates this rare, bespoke night with her fans - an undoubtedly long time in the making which sees her ushering in a new era.
For Remi Wolf's latest material proves as some of her most grappling work to date: straddling the familiar realm of modern pop; delving into the unchartered waters of funk and disco - a concoction few modern artists flourish in. In contrast, Wolf’s older material seemed dated and worn-out in moments, perhaps succumbing to end-of-tour fatigue. Yet tonight indisputably left the sold-out audience excited, hell-bent on quenching their thirst for this artist’s elusive extension into the sexier, voracious, and daring unknown.
7.5/10
Remi Wolf's latest single, 'Toro', is out now via EMI Records and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Ragan Henderson whose work can be found here.