Sinead O'Connor sings it best when she downplays her vocal talent.
This emotional force by understatement defined her 1990 hit, Nothing Compares 2 U, and a similarly hushed and stark rendition proved a highlight at this crowded, intimate Glasgow show.
Over two decades on from that ballad's global chart ubiquity, and myriad headline-grabbing incidents since, (many of which have centred on her tortuous relationship with the Catholic church and organised religion), O'Connor appeared in friendly, happy form in Glasgow – smiling throughout; cracking the occasional bawdy joke; trying to avoid being "inappropriate" after she was recently lambasted for making a sexual wisecrack about a banana.
Backed by a seven-strong (sometimes too strong) band, O'Connor drew largely from her impressive new album, How About I Be Me (And You Be You).
Her recent single, The Wolf Is Getting Married, gave Skunk Anansie a run for their money with its shimmering drive-rock and upbeat lyrics, while the ambient electronica of I Had a Baby reflected on motherhood, mental illness and abandonment without being heavy-handed.
Other new tracks fared equally well: the desolate piano psalm of Reason With Me; a scathing cover of John Grant's Queen of Denmark. The band's treatment of O'Connor's older material dated and overshadowed it, however – from the new age Celtic rock of 1987's Never Get Old, to the pummelling stadium pomp of 1990's Emperor's New Clothes.In a colourful performance that also spanned Celtic-reggae, a cappella folk and traditional psalms, the one consistency was O'Connor's outstanding voice. Its enduring power suggested that perhaps she has yet to make her greatest record; sing her finest song.
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