In a fairly saturated landscape of middle-class British men peddling warm-hearted guitar pop, Hertfordshire singer-songwriter George Ezra sticks out as the most interesting of the bunch. Though his jolly, shoulder-shimmying songs seem all blue skies and ice-cold lager tops, Ezra’s idiosyncratic sense of humour (for a time, he cultivated an exceedingly well-behaved alter-ego called Geoff) consistently shone through his parade of sunny anthems.
In recent years, the artist has spoken candidly about his experiences with OCD, and at the centre of many of his biggest hits – which often explored escaping away to hotter climes and leaving the real world behind – a hint of something darker hovered around the gravelliest edges of his booming voice. On his first two wildly popular albums – 2014’s debut Wanted on Voyage and Staying at Tamara’s four years later – these more fatalistic threads felt under-explored, only really cutting through in the anxiety-addled core of Get Away and First Aid Kit-featuring outlier Saviour. “All of me is all for you” he sang on the latter, a brooding ballad, “and what I’ve got to give is not enough.”
Amped up with alien wails of guitar, Saviour was one of the most powerful moments in Ezra’s first show in three years, which took place in the decadent surroundings of London’s Palladium. Though unreleased tracks from upcoming third album Gold Rush Kid were light on the ground, a live debut for Green Green Grass leant into a reflective direction. The song, he explained to a hushed theatre, first came to fruition on a trip to St Lucia where, tipsy on a “lethal” rum punch, Ezra followed the sound of raucous music, and ended up in accidental attendance at a joyful, celebratory funeral.
Elsewhere, Ezra jokingly referenced the travel-heavy concepts behind his first two records ahead of the finger-picked introduction of Barcelona. “I was travelling around Europe… don’t worry, I’m not getting into it, we’ve all heard it before,” he smiled. “I’ve got away from that this time. It only took me three albums”. As much as Ezra’s songs – Green Green Grass’s disarmingly jaunty send-off included – are proven crowd-pleasers, the artist subtly shook things up, too. The rough, Bluesy undercurrents in his debut single Did You Hear The Rain? were amped up with thumping, swamp-metal riffs, while a gently-picked Barcelona was bolstered by warm peals of horn and an extended yacht rock solo.
There’s so much vitamin D injected into proceedings that you’re left wishing you’d packed sunscreen, but even amid the heady road trips of closing anthem Shotgun it never quite tipped over the edge into full-blown cheese. Skillfully toeing this line was George Ezra’s biggest draw, with bolder-sounding live renditions hinting at something deeper simmering just beneath the surface.
