Lola Young conquers her nerves and proves the Adele comparisons are justified

Lola Young performing at Little Simz’s Southbank Centre takeover, Meltdown Festival - (Pete Woodhead)

“I’m literally just a girl from Croydon,” says an overwhelmed Lola Young, eyeballing the 2,700 fans on their feet inside London’s Royal Festival Hall. “This is insane.” Moments before, the 24-year-old alt-pop singer had arrived on stage – dressed decidedly Y2K in an animal-print bra, forest green capri pants and lace-up trainer-style heels – appearing extremely nervous. It was only two days ago that tears filled her eyes on stage at the Capital Summertime Ball, when her in-ear monitors failed mid-performance. Tonight at the Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival, curated by rapper Little Simz, Young coyly introduces herself to the crowd, pacing the stage while staring at the floor.

Any uneasiness quickly thaws away, though, when the crowd arises for “Wish You Were Dead”, a rock-inflected blow-by-blow account of a fight between lovers from last year’s debut album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway. She belts out grand, bodacious riffs as she twists her arms into choreographed poses. That skittish pacing has transformed into decisive, commanding struts as she cockily drags the microphone behind stand her as if it were an expensive puppy.