It's fitting that Cerys Matthews is making her London comeback in a chapel. If ever an artist was intent on cleansing her soul and repenting for past 'sins' in public then it's the former Catatonia singer.
Because you can almost guarantee that the Union Chapel faithful aren't going to be a beer-soaked mass of Britpop diehards, but a curious and sedate older generation. They rise from their pews to give her a rousing welcome and a sole native diligently waves a Welsh flag but that's about it. And, it's exactly what she wants, probably needs, as she tentatively feels her way back from the brink of self-destruction.
However, it's the sporadic 'we love you Cerys' tributes and her reaction to these that tell us far more than her genuinely touching musical confessions. Stripped of her alcohol safety net and bereft of her trademark wine bottle salute, the heavily pregnant Matthews appears embarrassed, strangely timid and, if anything, lost, unable to find a rhythm or purpose bar a half-hearted shuffle. You could just put it down to the load of carrying an extra person but one suspects the reasons run far deeper.
Having a band of hired Nashville hands who are about as animated as her former backing band doesn't help her but Matthews is visibly tender as she goes about exorcising demons. At least tonight's show proves she can do it sober and she's still in possession of one of the most beautiful and powerful voices in the business.
Her well-publicised Nashville direction - ironic given her new teetotal status - means the tempo barely gets above a steady foot tap. That suits the band who bring new meaning to the word laidback and during the rather measly hour set, Cerys appears to relax enough to let slip one or two of her irrepressible smirks that once graced her every move and will again.
'Cockahoop's best (and worst) songs are aired as if to emphasise her complete break from Catatonia. 'Weightless Again', 'If You're Looking For Love', 'The Good In Goodbye', 'Gypsy Song' and the jaunting 'Caught In The Middle' are among the former roll call but it's hard not to see these tracks as anything more than 'International Velvet' leftovers.
So, just as tonight's surroundings are apt, so is her final tune. 'All my trials lord will soon be over' she sings in hushed gospel reverence and the message couldn't be more obvious if a huge banner unfurled that read 'DON'T DESERT ME NOW, I NEED YOU ALL!'
While she might not be firing on all cylinders musically just yet but tonight's audience show her support for what she's given them in the past and what will come in the future. She needs us and we, it can happily be reported, still need her too.
