Martha Wainwright @ The Ritz, Manchester, 28 Jan

Martha Wainwright’s proud tradition of refusing to do things by the book stretches back pretty much to the beginning of her career. It’s fitting, then, that latest record Goodnight City should be comprised of six of her own songs and six offered up by collaborators, from brother Rufus to Glen Hansard to Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs.

The Canadian’s last show in town, a little over four years ago, drew a decidedly less-than-capacity crowd to this same venue and while tonight’s audience is a little larger – perhaps understandably, given it’s a Saturday night rather than a Tuesday – you still get the sense that Wainwright remains a bit of a hidden gem, particularly by way of comparison to her myriad famous family members. At that last gig, she turned in a set fully representative of the many snaking turns that her life in music had taken to that point – one minute peddling the spiky electro-pop of Black Sheep and then bringing the house down with a dazzling clutch of Edith Piaf covers the next.

Tonight, she pulls a similar trick with one crucial difference – she shows a much greater confidence in her own back catalogue, and perhaps a little too much in Goodnight City itself. She airs no fewer than nine cuts from the album, and at points they feel weirdly disjointed in a manner that doesn’t manifest itself on the record. Opener Around the Bend retains its folky prettiness and Look Into My Eyes simmers with palpable drama, but the off-kilter funk strut of Take the Reins falls flat, and the vocal acrobatics on Before the Children Came Along feel awkwardly affected.

Fan favourites of old are thin on the ground, too, with Bleeding All Over You a welcome exception. Instead, it’s the points at which Wainwright strips everything back that truly soar; Goodnight City’s piano ballad closer, Francis, is gloriously affecting, and the two covers that are included (both originally by her mother, Kate McGarrigle) are powerful reminders of the degree to which musicality runs in Wainwright’s blood. She’s made one of those songs, Proserpina, her own, and when she finishes up with it tonight, she delivers a genuine tour-de-force both vocally and emotionally. Wainwright’s output has always been uneven, and that’s usually reflected in her live shows; when she gets it right, though, the results are revelatory.