jennylee @ Band On The Wall, 8 December

Going it alone isn’t always easy. But with a combination of breezy informality and a little bit of genuine star quality, Warpaint founder member Jenny Lee Lindberg seems pretty comfortable stepping out with a new band three days before the release of her debut solo LP, Right On! With a few false starts, laughing fits and blank looks between band members, it’s evident that this new collaboration is still finding its feet.

With any solo endeavour comes a more singular artistic vision, and tonight sees Lindberg striking out from Warpaint’s signature spacious mid-tempo jams and exploring some new stylistic directions without being wildly experimental, always leaving enough space in the arrangements to allow her soporific, breathy vocals to shine through. Tonight’s set exhibits nods to disco, as on Offerings, and sultry RnB with He Fresh. Never takes a woozy approach to post-punk with an earworm bassline reminiscent of Joy Division’s Disorder, and a couple of slower, harder-edged tracks – White Devil and closer Riot – both similar in feeling to The Pop Group’s more dub-tinged moments, and build to climaxes with a throat-shredding howl.

Lindberg’s visible delight in playing new material to a small crowd of super-fans throws into shadow the mood of claustrophobia and isolation portrayed in many of these songs, including a rendition of Warpaint’s CC, and Boom Boom, rising with the refrain “Society is anxiety.” Repeated mantras such as these seem to be a staple of jennylee’s songwriting, where wordier sections would be most welcome; but they can be excused in what is a beguiling work in progress.