SOAK, St. Pancras Old Church, London

Bridie Monds-Watson closes her first London headline set, in a church, with a song containing the line ‘I don’t like Jesus.’ Don’t render this a rebellious streak though. Throughout the night she talks about how she’s not one for cussing and how she’s ‘not 50 Cent.’ She talks a lot, actually. It’s not down to nervousness. Everything she says is funny, by intention or otherwise. After shows on the road supporting CHVRCHES, this is Bridie in her element; playing to a sit-down crowd, candles everywhere, Jesus looking down on all. Ok, so maybe she’s not completely in her element.

Between-song rambles (less lengthy and definitely more modest than a Kanye monologue) help to counter songs that are unmistakeably sad. There’s no caution in a song like ‘Snow’, which she wrote when she was thirteen, coming to terms with the fact that she had no friends. ‘The chorus is the saddest thing you’ll ever hear,’ she jokes while introducing the song. Newer efforts are less woe-is-me. Recent EP title-track ‘Blud’ is a spine-tingling affirmation of love. Dark as sin, too. But then comes the declaration from the Derry songwriter that the song’s title is spelled ‘Blud’ because that’s how she imagines London people to talk. ‘And none of you actually say that - it’s weird!’

Crippling sadness and intimacy are the things Soak specialises in. At seventeen she carries more wisdom than the diary of an average sixty-something. What’s even more striking is the sheer ease with which she plays these songs, written at a complicated, often contradictory age. With skill, earnestness and a fine dose of cheek - before finishing she thanks God ‘for owning this church, I guess’ - there’s no doubt that if Bridie remains this at ease with everything, she’ll be a genuine star.