Lissie, Dingwalls, London

Having had what sounds like a banging few years of downtime completing her second album whilst, in her own words, “spending time with family, friends, dogs and Game of Thrones”, Miss Lissie Maurus is back on both our radars and our shores.

Aside from her covers EP – ‘Covered Up With Flowers’, the only news we’ve had in the Lissie department is the release of her latest single, ‘Shameless’. The Illinois native sings of magazine covers and fame on the super catchy new track that draws comparison to The Kills and features the line “now everybody fucking sing!” - a world away from the country / folk / gospel charm of her first album.

She takes to the stage at Camden’s sold out Dingwalls accompanied by guitarist, bassist and brand new drummer. Lissie kicks things off with rocky new track, ‘The Habit’ and it’s immediately obvious that her signature husky voice is strained. Next up oldie but goodie ‘When I’m Alone’, prompts a mass singalong and plenty of pop rock jumping from the main girl herself. She apologises for her sore throat and warns fans that she would be squeaking her way through the rest of the set - an announcement met with declarations of love from the audience, who clearly don’t mind.

The singer edges closer to her past sound with ‘Sleepwalking’ before a very grungy ‘Bully’ works with her croaky vocals perfectly as her wonderfully hairy long-time guitarist Eric Sullivan kills his solo and Lissie rocks out. By the time ‘Shameless’ comes around, the performance is clearly taking its toll on her waning vocal cords.

Powering through, we’re then hit with ‘Shroud’, a track she wrote five years ago, and soon to be b-side to ‘Shameless’. Accompanied by her band’s backing vocals, the song is an emotional one apparently written during a tough time… “but you know, you get through,’ she tells us. Fans are then treated to another couple of foot-stamping new tracks that Lissie head-bangs her way through before ending on an energy-filled ‘In Sleep’.

It seems that Lissie has found her vibe – rock, very rock – and is fully embracing it.