Parisian singer-songwriter Ethel is “blending elements of soul, indie and alternative R&B” in her enchanting return to the London stage in the neon-lit Brixton Hootananny on Wednesday 3 December.

With the addition of new singer-songwriter Soarr (Ella McMurray), the night started off with the kind of ambience only an HBO drama could create, mixed with escapist fantasy. Soarr’s vocals are like a plunge in the ocean and a breath of fresh air thanks to the indie electronic production of her singles, making for the perfect opener to transport the audience into a new trance-like headspace.

Enter Ethel, the rising French indie, funk and soul star, who was based in London, moved back to Paris where she was born and came back with her heavy French accent (which is incredibly undetectable in her singing) – “How do you say it, cathartical?” She asks for the audience help to express the feeling of creating her music which has consistently gone platinum in my earbuds.

Ethel darts across her growing but humble catalogue from the more recent funk single ‘Availability’ with orange, pink and purple hue colours pulsing on the screens either sides of her, to singles from her spring 2024 EP ‘The Burden of Fever Dreams’, with singles such as the calming ‘Pixie Dust’, the ethereal ‘Passing Ships’ and the transient and soul-shattering ‘Having a Fever’ interlude into ‘WANNAGO?’.

The French songstress moves with ease on stage popping and locking to the funk and upbeat tracks and effortlessly transitions into the more introspective, melancholic indie tracks all while controlling her own production decks on the side of the stage to match her vocals. Ethel performs her latest infectious single that was released this November, ‘Sorted’, a nostalgic indie pop collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Banshee The Great.

To close out the show, Ethel performs her most popular track, a 2022 indie soul viral single, ‘Andromeda’. Earlier in the show, Ethel blends this very song with a cover of an André 3000 track, telling the crowd she grew up listening to OutKast and loved recreating André 3000’s hits. London is ready for Ethel and cannot wait to see her skyrocket with what she brings out next.