Solange, XOYO, London

It’s the hottest ticket in town. Journalists had been begging for tickets on Twitter for days. The two shows were completely sold out. On a freezing cold Thursday night XOYO is packed with chattering hipsters. And they’re all here to see Beyonce’s sister.

Yet despite her famous sister (or rather because of her), what’s most intriguing is that Solange has followed her own idiosyncratic path. It has seen her become somewhat of a cult figure – she’s worked with the likes of of Montreal and True, her recently-released Dev Hynes produced EP was released on micro-indie label Terrible Records, run by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear.

It all means expectations are exceptionally high. The fact that I’m behind Romy from the xx in the queue to get in shows just how hyped this show is. Romy’s presence at the show is explained half-way through the set when Solange calls out her bandmate Oli to join her onstage to help cover ‘Make It Hot,’ a semi-big Timbaland/Missy Elliott produced 1998 hit for Nicole Wray. ‘I’d like to take a second and introduce - and have some fun with - one of my really good friends,” says Solange. Their salt and pepper, sultry vocals work well together as she purrs ‘I got what you want.’

Elsewhere we get the pick of the hits from her two previous albums. That means there’s ‘T.O.N.Y.’, an effervescent track with retro stylings, and the Pharrell collaboration ‘Crush’ (recorded when she was just 15).

But this is a set predominantly drawn from her ‘True’ EP. These tracks are given a sense of show with the old school synchronised dance routines on display (it seems Hynes might have produced these as well). And when you can get a whole crowd to cheer just by dropping your shoulder it’s a fair sign of how effortlessly cool you are. Yet it’s not that Solange dominates the stage – dressed in a floral vintage dress, all shoulders, startling jawline and beaming smile, her stage presence is only quietly dominating. Most of the time it’s hard to hear her between-song chat over the people buzzing and boring on around me.

The mesmerising rhythms and melodies of ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and celestial shine of ‘Cosmic Journey’ together with the gently disco-infused flutter of ‘Lovers In The Parking Lot’ are enough to regain the crowd’s attention.

It’s left to ‘Losing You’ to grab their attention - it’s met with rapturous cheers and phones are taken from faces and held up to video the song. There is rapt silence and dancing. It really is the subtlest and downbeat of anthems - but an anthem it truly is tonight. It’s followed by the rolling funk and glowing chorus of ‘Sandcastle Disco’. With a full-length album imminent and this being only Solange’s new band’s fourth gig, it’s hard not to get excited about where Ms. Knowles can take her own unique brand of dreamy R&B.