Live Review: Ngaiire

When lists emerge reeling off the best or most exciting local artists to watch, it seems Sydney-based Ngaiire is too often undeservedly left off them. It's a challenge for many to even get her name right (it's pronounced Ny-ree, for the record), but hers is one that you'll be glad to know after one taste of her musical feast.
Playing a special one-off gig for Vivid festival before gracing one of the many hallowed Glastonbury stages, the Papua New Guinea-born pocket rocket treated The Basement to a show almost too big for the intimate atmosphere. With hair as large as her voice and sporting an oversized ski jacket, Ngaiire was captivating from the get-go. Rabbit Hole opens the set, its syncopated rhythm and funky beat revving up the crowd and showing off her jazz background.
Ngaiire is a force to be reckoned with. When faced with her booming vocals, precision melodies and undeniable soul/funk expertise, it's a wonder that she isn't more widely recognised as a valuable export. Her talent as a songwriter and performer could easily stand up against the rest of them. She's refreshingly candid, too. Telling the audience, “We're going to have some conversations tonight,” she spoke about the inspiration behind some of her songs. A standout of the show and the album, ABCD (For Ommo) was written for a childhood friend who “died of a broken heart”. It's even more gutwrenching than the recording, sending shivers down the spines and tears to the eyes of all those fortunate enough to witness it.
Finishing on crowd favourite Dirty Hercules, the soul queen unexpectedly returned for an unplanned encore to appease the hungry crowd. Though her trajectory has been surprisingly slow, things can surely only get bigger and better for the charming Ngaiire, and those who got to see her in such a small space may count themselves lucky in years to come.