Florist @ The Castle Hotel, Manchester, 16 Apr

It could be difficult to imagine a sold-out Florist show. They write with an honesty and an intimacy that forces you to forget that anybody else in the world listens to their songs. There are upwards of 50 people packed into the living room-esque backroom of The Castle and you’d imagine few people here have ever heard these songs in shared company before.

“We’re going to be sitting down, you can sit down too if you like,” offers Emily Sprague as she takes her seat. Quite quickly, it becomes clear that a live environment won’t hinder the tenderness or warmth of the band’s music.

Florist describe 2017’s If Blue Could Be Happiness as a collection of “soft-synthesizer-folk stylings,” a description which is illuminated by tonight’s modest minimal electronics and guitar set up; with hazy, omnipresent electronics complementing Sprague’s sparse guitar style.

Whilst songs from their latest record make up a large part of tonight’s set, there’s a place too for cuts from The Birds Outside Sang and their Holdly EP. Cool and Refreshing is a standout and finds Florist at their conflicting best: exploring mortality and summer within the same couplet.

There are moments that remind you why you listen to this band alone. On 1914, Sprague sings: 'Please remember to feed the cat / Please remember that I’m never coming back' – a flinchingly sad line that feels uncomfortable to hear in a busy room. But then, there’s comfort in the fact that everybody here no doubt feels the same way.