Daughter @ Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 23 Jan

Daughter have always been quietly, unassumingly tough. Rough on the heartstrings, yeah, but also tough in a vengeful, honest, self-critical manner that belies their breathy balladry.

Second album Not to Disappear sees the London trio build on their surreal, dream-goth formula, returning with an altogether huger sound. Without losing any trace of intimacy, this album leaves very real bruises. In interview with The Skinny in January, Tonra admitted that the band have grown “a bit more confident and a bit more aggressive,” and this newly found tension is more than apparent on the Queen's Hall stage.

In delicate, but rigorously crafted gaps between bars, or verses, or tracks, Daughter exercise control – elongating pauses almost excruciatingly, really letting the moment sink. One such pause turns out to be because Tonra’s quietly burst into tears, and she half-laughs “Sorry for being so snotty” into the mic before briefly leaving the stage. It feels very far from a gimmick.

After driving through shadowed, harrowing renditions of new tracks How, Numbers and Alone / With You, Daughter’s sharper edge is shown off in heavier, more assertive versions of their older material. Amsterdam, Home and Youth feel bolstered, buoyed up by Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella’s newly discovered self-confidence – and all the more thrilling for it. Saturday night pre-drinks are rarely soundtracked by songs about Alzheimers and existential crisis, and Edinburgh’s crowd is strangely rowdy at times – offering up gruff 'We love you!'s and over-excited whoops – but at other times, we’re all held so captive that it feels as if no one can breathe.