BANKS, O2 ABC2, Glasgow

There’s something very powerful about BANKS’ performance. It could be the effortless cool that radiates from her on stage: it could be the mature, modern pop she produces. Whatever it is, it’s a very potent mixture, and one that explains the heavy weight of expectation that rests upon her shoulders.

It’s that expectation that brings the crowd into what feels like an undersized venue, but it’s a near-perfect performance that will ensure BANKS graduates to much larger venues than the clubs she has performed in on this tour. Her eyes portray an unrelenting determination, and though flanked by the two members of her band, there’s no doubt who is in charge. Don’t mistake her sense of purpose and cool exterior for aloofness though - as she eases into the set, her intense performances become punctuated by moments of genuine gratitude towards the crowd on this first UK tour. For the entirety of her forty-five minutes on stage, it’s a performance with intent.

Glimpses of tracks from BANKS’ forthcoming album hint at the sort of pop stardom her polished, genre-smashing sound befits while an impressive chorus of fans are already able to sing back every word of the material she’s released thus far. Her career may have been born of some dark times, but it’s because of those circumstances that her music feels like a liberating experience. For now, it’s crowds of 350 on a Sunday night in Glasgow, but it doesn’t feel like it’ll be long before she’s performing to audiences almost ten times that.