VV Brown at Madame JoJo’s

It is an almost undisputed fact that VV Brown deserves more recognition than she has received. At 5ft11 the girl is not only gorgeous (she helped front the huge Marks and Spencer campaigns alongside Twiggy and Dannii Minogue), she can sing. The 2009 twee bebop hits produced by Brown were sparkling with energy despite the sadness laced within the lyrics of Crying Blood and Leave! Appearing on numerous magazine covers with her model looks, she was touted as the one to watch. Yet this never fully came to fruition despite widespread touring. That year saw acts like Gaga and Rihanna thrust themselves scantily clad into the limelight and VV’s second album was delayed…until now.

Brown’s aesthetic, despite never indulging in overt sexuality to gain notoriety like her contemporaries, has always been carefully constructed. From the retro-indie curled fringe of Travelling Like the Light she has transformed into a darker, edgier being. Gone are the cutesy dance moves, here is the slow and steady gesticulation of a wiser, more experienced showman.

Madame JoJo’s, the infamous burlesque club, is aglow. The stage is punctuated by a starry night sky with wafts of smoke blowing across Brown’s shimmering cheekbones. Brown has no need to show anything other than her talent and is swathed head to toe in clothes with a quirky feather headpiece in place, harking back to her original style. 

Brown’s voice soars into operatic highs and she begins in a closed-eyed trance. Starting the night with Substitute for Love, the singer-songwriter is full of female empowerment on stage. This becomes more significant when one considers that this is the first song on the new album entitled Samson and Delilah. This modern Biblical retelling of female betrayal is most striking in the lead single Samson and the accompanying music video typifies the noire nature of the album beautifully.

Brown’s change of direction has worked brilliantly in the aesthetics of  this song and luckily, at this launch party the artistic direction continues to look positive – The Apple (queued to be the second single) is similarly dark with an electronic dance vibe. It is so full of attitude and so immediately anthemic that the audience are able to repeat the lyrics back verbatim. If all the songs turn out to be as emotive as these two singles then Brown should finally be on to a winner.

Verdict: ★★★★★

Anne Higgins
Photos: Steve Taylor

For further information about VV Brown and future events visit here.

Watch the video for Samson here: