Sky Ferreira @ SWG3, Glasgow, 9 Apr

In lieu of a support act tonight, there's a considered playlist of Sky Ferreira's contemporaries: early EP amuse-bouches from seminal cool girls that transformed the trajectory of the last decade of pop, from Lorde and Lana Del Rey to Solange and Grimes. Responsive to the apt vibe curation, the woman to my left giddily asserts “this is so 2014-Tumblr-girl-coded.” 

At 9.40pm Sky Ferreira steps out, almost furtively, perhaps cognizant of the scheduled start time 25 minutes prior. But it all plays into her elusive appeal. Ferreira’s too-cool vibe is externalised in simple but striking stylistic terms as she resembles an unkempt Debbie Harry or a composite of all the characters from True Romance: black sunglasses, peroxide blonde hair swooped to one side, an oversized zebra print jacket and black boots. Her drummer, keyboardist, bassist and guitarist dutifully take their places amidst a red, smoky mist.

They dive straight into Boys, the grungy but optimistic track that opened 2013's Night Time, My Time. The purgative chorus that declares 'You put my faith back in boys' is sweetly met with raised fists and heartened expressions from the crowd. The wistful and twinkly 24 Hours promptly follows, and a sentimental swell comes over the room on the longing line, 'Wish the clock had no hand'. Next comes 2022 single Don’t Forget – an account of being wronged – with the gravitas of a state of the union address, while its fuzzy new wave guitar zigzags and the spotlight flashes magenta purple and hot pink over the stage. Ferreira’s stage presence throughout is a lowkey, subdued swagger, but with song after song played without interruption it feels like we're privy to a soundcheck rather than an animated and interactive performance. 

For You’re Not the One, she sways with a loose grip on the mic and tousles her hair. Though everyone sings the line, 'It’s the middle of the night and I’m so gone!!' with a fair degree of angst, vocals are overpowered by instrumentation. Lost in My Bedroom, from her 2012 Ghost EP, is the peppiest injection yet, with hard, heavily amplified synths buffing its balletic melody and enchanting, head-in-the-clouds chorus. In both volume and movement, I Will is met with the strongest surge from the audience yet. The punchy ode to transformative love that is Heavy Metal Heart is enjoyable but greater catharsis could’ve been gleaned from its shuddering outro. Comparatively, Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay) rides a wave of angry release, as upon the bridge everyone claps in kinetic unison with the pounding strobe lights and spirited shouts of 'NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!'

Considering 80s new wave is a cornerstone of Ferreira’s musical references, it's no surprise to hear a quietly emotive cover of Voices Carry's 'Til Tuesday. Then, as the room turns electric blue, comes Everything Is Embarrassing, Ferreira’s breakthrough hit. This beautifully frustrated, porous track should be the show’s high point, yet despite every attendee being in sync with the sinuous chorus, the vibes remain quite contained, with the instrumentation simply too sparse and Ferreira’s vocal strained in the verses.

Ferreira says thank you before proposing, “We’ll do one more song… Omanko?” As her jacket comes off for this closer, a dirty guitar sounds and stirs a subversive spirit. Slightly discordant energies come from the crowd, but nearly all hands are raised for the rousing assurance of 'I’M GEARING UP!', as a salvo of red and purple lights flash. Ferreria thanks the crowd a few more times, puts her coat back on and slips away unceremoniously. 

Sky Ferreira is a very different pop star to your choreo-charged, multi-costume-changing, grinning and winking doll – her USP is arguably her refreshing rejection of such. She has an unpolished, idle charm. But an outright dearth of adornment or extra effort can reveal limitations in the raw product. With no specific governing aesthetic to the show, no re-imagined arrangements, no crowd-work, and as a top-to-bottom run-through of her debut album (bar two singles and a cover), she delivers a satisfactory but ultimately staid show of faint creativity.