Review: Camille O'Sullivan Sings Cave

Is this what going to church feels like? With her rich, rasping voice, Camille O’Sullivan leads a hypnotic, almost hymnal evening as she performs the songs of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

With projected clouds billowing behind her, she opens with an ethereal version of 'God Is In The House'. You can almost see the notes reverberating through her. Her languid, luxurious version of 'Into My Arms', in which she seems to unpick the notes and wrap them around us individually, is enchanting. “Summon them together,” she sings as she waves at us gently, “to watch over you.”

With her band, O’Sullivan executes total control then complete recklessness. During 'Jubilee Street' she kicks over the chime stand and afterwards seems surprised to see it on the floor. “I’m not gonna make it to the end,” she laughs as she collapses. She chucks off her boots and untucks her shirt; comfortable now. The projections behind her echo the changes in tone, from lightning to water to a bird that seems to stem from inside the drum kit. The lighting is exquisite, just as emotive as the music, with glowing embers fizzing under a drum burst, and a guitar solo left to resonate in a violet haze. 

O’Sullivan pieces herself back together for the final song and asks us to join her in with the last few lines. “We make a little history baby,” she sings, and her words feel like direct eye contact, “every time you come around”.