There’s a deeply tempting magic attached to the idea of fresh starts. When you move to a new place, strike up a conversation with a stranger, and it dawns on you that their entire perception of you hinges on what you say and do next. Everyone you meets knows a different version of you, and every first meeting is a blank state to create the ideal version of who you want to be. Belwood favourite Sophie Morgan took that idea and ran with it when crafting her new alter ego Luvcat. Her new project pairs the romantic allure of a smoky jazz club with the dark gothic storytelling of Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen – with a hearty dash of playfulness and theatricality thrown in for good measure. Luvcat’s beguiling mystique has clearly captured people’s imaginations, as the project’s popularity and influence has been racing like wildfire in just the past year. Fresh off the continent, having just supported The Last Dinner Party across Europe, I caught Luvcat on the first stop of her debut UK headline tour for a bewitching night of mystery and mischief.

With the stage illuminated by a custom red neon sign, bringing some Moulin Rouge energy to the Deaf Institute before even a single note was played, the crowd offered opening act Dan Lyons their rapt attention. He cut a curious figure, pairing a smart blazer with a quirky brown woollen hat, and carrying a bodged homemade electro-acoustic with the pickup cable loosely taped to the guitar body. The key however is in how it sounds, not how it looks, and his fretted Frankenstein delivered some downright dirty blues tones. Dan’s songwriting and command of the crowd soundly surpassed my expectations. There was an edge and a humour to his music, both equally sharp, that felt like the perfect fit for the tone of the evening. This dark and droll troubadour felt truly at home on a stage, and seems like the kind of artist with a lot of stories to tell. 

While Dan’s first impression was one of curious contradictions, Luvcat however had a clear aesthetic vision in mind. One which she captured perfectly as she took to the stage in black lace and leopard print, with big hair and blood red lips and nails. With a captivatingly coquettish stage presence and a sound as dark and rich as a fine red wine, the vibe of the evening was that of stepping behind the curtain into the back room of a speakeasy. With only a couple of songs released into the world, all of her as-yet unreleased material felt like a wonderful teaser of what is to come. ‘Bad Books’ was Luvcat at her most playful and theatrical, doubling down on her cabaret influences, while ‘The Girl Who Sleeps in the Four Poster Bed’ saw her duetting with opener Dan Lyons. It had a twisted romanticism that felt very Nick Cave & Kylie, and seeing the two of them waltzing together at the song’s climax was one of my highlights of the night. I think for her however, the most memorable moment of the night came as the entire crowd belted out every word of her debut single ‘Matador‘ back at her. You could tell just how much it meant to her, the cracks beginning to form in her otherworldly glamour as the fan support left her a little teary eyed by the end. 

The evening came to a close with her new single ‘Dinner @ Brasserie Zedel’, which began with stripped back a cappella and accordion before evolving into a heavy stomp. The track took on new life in a live setting, with an undercurrent of menace which felt like the track was describing a last meal. It’s exactly that kind of energy – the heady cocktail of romantic drama, the real stories of heartache dressed up in macabre metaphor – which has sparked such a well-earned whirlwind of interest in the past twelve months. It’s bittersweet to think I might never get to see Luvcat in a room this small again, as that momentum carries her onwards and upwards, yet more than anything I’m excited to see her take her shows to ever greater heights of vaudevillian excess.