Live Review: Lorde

“She's so sexy!” gasps one of the gaggle of girls standing beside us as Lorde walks on stage. And the New Zealand vocalist, otherwise known as Ella Yelich-O'Connor is indeed utterly composed and self-possessed. Dressed in a miniscule black dress, she flicks her enormous swathe of curly dark hair across her face made up with gothic-purple lipstick. Her cool, calm and collected exterior belies her 17 years. Yes, she's still in high school, and yes, she writes all her own songs. The sold-out Workers Club is heaving, mostly with young women, and one or two industry peeps. There's a big buzz around this girl and this is her first time in the country.

With just two band members – a drummer and a laptop/keyboard operator – controlling the dense, squelchy sounds of the songs behind her, she kicks off with Bravado, one of just seven of the tracks she has released so far, as The Love Club EP, free on Soundcloud. Each of the songs has a totally different feel to them although there is a stylistic link in her astonishingly strong, character-filled voice and a massive electronic squelchiness to the music itself.

She plays the hypnotic Biting Down, then announces she's going to play some songs we don't know. Oooh new material, a bit of a litmus test. Luckily the new material more than stacks up against the Love Club stuff. Glory And Gore, Tennis Court and Buzzcut Season all have that same Lorde quirky lyricism and strong vocal lines. The bouncy, poptastic Love Club is next and then the kick-ass originality of Royals – a smart, pulsing ode to an un-blinged-up lifestyle – which has already spent weeks at the top of the NZ charts. One more song and Lorde swoops off the stage without an encore. She has probably wrung her catalogue dry, but it's all been amazing stuff. An utterly impressive performance from another young Kiwi vocalist who has all the right ingredients to end up being a massive star. Catch her while you can.