Michael Kiwanuka @ Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, 8 Aug

Large lights, a ringed backdrop and a disco ball suspended from the rafters populate an empty stage in the middle of Princes Street Gardens. In front of it, a crowd has begun to gather to enjoy the curtain-raiser for the 2022 edition of the Edinburgh Summer Sessions. When part of the mass, the crowd doesn’t feel particularly grand, but when looking at it from a distance it’s an ocean, with everyone afforded a view due to the steps that make up the mini amphitheatre.

Setting the tone perfectly, opener Brooke Combe is exceptional. She and her band play their hometown show with passion as they warm the crowd up with a special performance. Playing before the Kiwanukas of the world is no easy feat, but they more than hold their own. Combe is one to keep an eye on.

Before long Michael Kiwanuka and his band arrive onstage, wasting no time before launching into Piano Joint (This Kind of Love), followed by One More Night and You Ain't the Problem. He and his band have us under their spell immediately, their instruments harmonising perfectly and Kiwanuka’s voice somehow able to ring out and echo through an open space.

There's little talk between tunes, but they still take their time, building up to each new melody. It is slow, like delicate, deliberate strokes of a brush across a canvas, his voice creating increasing ripples upon the oceans of faces in front of him. While he exchanges few words with us, the rare times he speaks between songs are reaffirmations of how happy he is to be here. And the words seem genuine, his enjoyment playing in front of a crowd like this evident by occasional shy grins he allows himself before disappearing back into the music.

Black Man In a White World, Hero and Light have us feeling like he's taking us by the hand through his emotions, occasionally squeezing when they become too much to bear. Swept away in the melodies, we don't realise it's supposedly the end when he plays the track he claims is the night's last, Solid Ground. A haunting piano-driven ballad, it would be a fitting end to the night. But we are not done quite yet.

In a performance as beautiful as this it feels odd to single out a sole song as being above the rest. It's a true testament to the composition, writing and performance of the penultimate Cold Little Heart that it shines even brighter than the rest. Silky yet stirring, it and Love & Hate finish the set on the strongest possible note, encapsulating the raw emotion and heart that few artists are able to birth in the same way Kiwanuka can.

Edinburgh Summer Sessions continues in Princes Street Gardens until 14 Aug

smmrsessions.com