True to its name, the venue is bathed in blue light, staff dressed in light blue button-up shirts. They serve smiles and professionalism with a stern side of instruction to make sure that the limited space is used to its full 200-person capacity without selfish guests taking away from the experiences of others.

The venue is alive for Ella Eyre’s first of two shows of the night. The sold-out room sports a younger crowd than is often anticipated for a jazz club, but there is no shortage of seasoned jazz aficionados in the room. Eyre’s sound is rooted in soul and R&B, bringing to mind Amy Winehouse comparisons, and the audience waits to see how it will translate from the studio recordings from her recent album, everything, in time, to the live stage.  

At eight, the MC comes on the mic and introduces Grace Campbell. The audience is quiet, trying to understand if the MC made a mistake or if they did. Quickly, a blond curly-haired woman bounces on stage and tells the audience she is Ella’s friend and a stand-up comedian who will be doing a tight five to warm up the room. It’s an unorthodox, albeit charming way for the show to start, and it feels spiritually appropriate as the Comedy Cellar’s Village Underground venue sits across the street. Grace is witty and engaging, and despite some of the aforementioned seasoned jazz aficionados wrinkling their noses at a few of the crasser punch lines, the crowd enjoys it. After a few minutes of jokes, the MC announces Ella Eyre, and the crowd, now properly warmed up, cheers for the singer-songwriter as she walks to the stage.

Eyre begins her show by telling the audience a bit of the story of how she got here in the first place. She regales us with a tale of how, after needing throat surgery and not being sure if she would ever be able to sing again, she decided to cut ties with her record label and go indie. After feeling like she may never again be able to express herself through her music, she chose not to allow anyone else to decide how that expression would sound.

That journey culminated with her abandoning the dancey sound the label pushed on her and instead pursuing a more soulful or jazzy sound. That is what she is here tonight to perform for us. As she speaks, it stands out how incredibly charming she is. Her regular talking voice is smooth and bubbly, and it’s hard not to hang on to her every word. Sitting there, you almost forget that you’re there to hear her sing, getting lost in her stories.

Ella’s voice is incredible. It contains a power and sass that make it uniquely engaging. Where her songwriting shows some of the pitfalls of youth, her voice overcomes and brings in what sounds like generations of emotion. Her set is a mix of songs. The standouts are the new tracks from her everything, in time album.

Where the show lags ever so slightly are the rearranged tracks from her earlier music. She tells stories of a song blowing up in a detergent ad or one being the theme song for Love Island USA. These tracks still exhibit her awesome vocal prowess, but lack the same authenticity that the new tracks have stamped into them. Her power comes from that authentic, no apologies style. Her stories are honest and don’t hold back how she feels.

At one point, she just blatantly says “fuck Virgin Records” while throwing up a rude two-finger salute to her former signers. Her music is an extension of that honesty. She sings for catharsis, often speaking about her therapy in conjunction with her music. She stepped onto the centre stage at 17 singing the music that others told her she had to, and now 14 years later, she can finally sing the music she wants, and it can come right from her heart to our ears without a filter.  

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