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

 

Andy Gill
Thursday 14 February 2013 22:49 GMT
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Emeli Sandé, Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Virgin)
Emeli Sandé, Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Virgin)

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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

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