Krystle Warren, Rich Mix

Paradoxically, the greater the number of established artists you find yourself comparing a new talent to, the more original you are eventually forced to conclude this new talent is. So let’s get those comparisons out of the way: this Kansas City gal sounds a bit like Cassandra Wilson, Joan Armatrading, Me’Shell NdegéOcello, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Sly Stone, Bob Dylan, Bill Withers… and the list could go on. But more importantly Krystle Warren already seems to exude the same kind of gravitas as all of this illustrious roll call.

I have to confess it was not what I was expecting. A completely silent, mostly cross-legged-on-the-floor audience sat as if for school assembly before one woman and her acoustic guitar. Having been seduced by her richly arranged debut album Circles, I was looking forward to a funky full band bringing these songs to life. But even Warren’s announcement that she would be starting with some “depressing songs” did nothing to dampen the spirits of an audience who clearly would have been happy if she’d just turned up with a pair of castanets - as long as she did a bit of singing.

Because Krystle Warren is all about the voice. It’s a voice which wraps itself around songs like a feather boa, stretching and squeezing complex lyrics in the service of mercurial melodies. This was a breathier, more intimate performance than she gave last month at the Thames Festival where she managed to win over many of the falafel-focused crowd with her fearless repartee and cavalier spirit. But last night’s Rich Mix audience was clearly already converted, so she was more relaxed and chatty, which resulted in the wondering minstrel tales she told between songs being almost as entertaining as the songs themselves.

Which unfortunately brings me back to my original gripe: I should have enjoyed the songs more. Although the bluesy “The Means to Be” and the tip-toeing ballad “Sparkle and Fade” held their own, it just all got a bit too singer-songwriter for my tastes. A song can be as much about its sonic signature as it is about its lyrics, chords and melody. And while some of the sensual swagger of the songs remained - thanks to the charm and charisma of their composer - without all the album’s discombobulating production quirks – the reversed guitars, the toy keyboards, the idiosyncratic backing vocals – half the canvas was left bare.

One of the highlights of the evening was a sweetly exquisite version of the Sinatra classic “Something Stupid” which was, for once, enhanced rather than ruined by audience participation – so congratulations to last night’s Rich Mix crowd for getting my Audience Backing Vocalists of the Year Award. However, I was less moved by an over-emoted cover of “Eleanor Rigby” simply because, for me, however much soul and gospel clout Warren put into her version, the song’s cloyingly dated sentimentality still seeped through. OK, so we know Warren's a Beatles fan, but I could think of dozens of Beatles classics I’d rather have heard her cover.

But let’s not go out on a bad note. Let me reiterate what a charismatic performer and vocalist Krystle Warren is. It’s unfortunate that all those words usually used to describe such a voice – smoky, rich, world-weary, honeyed, velvet-smooth, mellifluous – are all clichés because, trust me, in this instance they are accurate. Warren hasn’t got a huge range, but her tone, control and intensity of delivery make her an unignorable talent. And if you throw in the winning way she seems to have with any audience who are stood (or cross-legged) before her, you have a star in the making. But please, Krystle - bring a band with you next time.

• Find Krystle Warren on Amazon

Watch Krystle Warren perform “Time Has Told Me” at the Barbican earlier this year: