Album review: Emeli Sandé, Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Virgin)

Emeli Sandé, Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Virgin)

Accompanied by strings and backing vocalists, Live at the Royal Albert Hall offers a suitably grandiose showcase for 2012's biggest breakthrough act.

This is Emeli's confirmation, with the anthemic clout of songs like “Where I Sleep”, “Heaven” and the Labrinth duet “Beneath Your Beautiful” greeted with hysterical fervour . Contrarily, the new song “Enough”, a love plaint set to a hypnotic piano motif and strings, is greeted like a hit single, as is Emeli's tribute to Nina Simone, a rather heavy-handed “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”. Ironically, amid all the orchestral and choral grandeur, some of the more effective performances are the most spartan, particularly a compelling version of “Suitcase” carried by little more than a bassline.

Download: Enough; Where I Sleep; Suitcase