Maggie Rogers at Electric Brixton, review: Arresting performance from a singer-songwriter doing things her own way

With her live shows, Rogers is proving she's more than just the hype

Maggie killin’ all: live performance shares ‘the feeling of being electrocuted’, Rogers tells an ecstatic crowd (Rex)

Maggie Rogers accomplishes things differently.

For example, the 23-year-old singer and songwriter from Maryland got her big break after Pharrell Williams visited her university music class. When Rogers played Pharrell the result of her homework assignment, “Alaska”, Williams was left speechless and visibly astounded to a frankly ridiculous comic effect. “I have zero, zero, zero notes for that,” he said. “I’ve never heard anyone like you before, and I’ve never heard anyone that sounds like that.” The video went viral, and a record deal soon followed.

Fast-forward 11 months and “Alaska” has been streamed over 35 million times on Spotify, Rogers is playing her biggest headline UK show yet at the sold-out 1,800-capacity Electric Brixton in London, before shooting off to her first ever Glastonbury. Things could be worse.

As the lights dim inside the sweltering room – there’s no AC on the hottest day of the year – Maggie Rogers bursts from side-of-stage in bright orange trousers, a great grin beaming from her face. She looks thrilled to be here. Backed-up by a three-piece band and vivid projections on the wall behind her, Rogers doesn’t put a foot wrong all night.

Her voice is arresting. Her eye-catching dance moves, featuring a flurry of swinging limbs and periods of spinning across the stage, are a lot of fun, and will be stolen by this writer on the weekend.

The singer zipps through a short set – who can blame her, there’s only one post-Pharrell EP out so far – which clocks in at just under an hour. “I was talking earlier about the feeling of being electrocuted,” Rogers says to the crowd, “and how the job of a performer is to take that energy and send it back.” She doesn't fail in this pursuit.

The glistening “On + Off” receives almost 30 seconds of whoops and applause, which sends Rogers staggering back, a smile stretching from ear to ear, savouring it. The best reaction, however, is reserved for the second to last track, “Alaska”.

“Alaska” is unique. It’s a song which features several original samples drawn from recordings of found conversations from a marketplace in Morocco, finger snaps and the sound of her hand patting jeans, which forms the main rhythmic loop. Oh, and the synth? It’s not a synth. It’s a mourning dove. Obviously. As mentioned before, Maggie Rogers does things differently. London eats it up.

Don’t expect to see Rogers in a room as “intimate” as the Electric Ballroom when she’s next headlining in town.

@lucasfothergill