Live Review: Vera Blue, Lanks

Tour support Lanks warms up the floor. The Melbourne electro-indie artist gets the crowd in the groove with his chirpy and textured electro-pop. The set includes a solo on his native instrument, the flute, but the real craft on show is his laptop work, which delivers tight production that loosens the hips. Lanks' control and emotional centre sets the evening's tone.

Virtuosity isn't always enough. Lucky for NSW songstress Vera Blue her impeccable vocal command comes with drama, invention and no shortage of emotional depth.

It's a month into a national tour that might be winding down, but Vera Blue (real name Celia Pavey)'s fans are doing anything but. Sunday marks a second sold out evening at Oxford Art Factory and her crowd can't get enough. Pavey is interrupted numerous times by bursts of applause and adoration from the floor. And the praise is well-deserved, her voice is sublime: it is smooth and creamy, and Pavey never misses a note even as she effortlessly reaches dizzying heights on the stave.

Sneak peeks of new material reveal an artist forging her own sound on the well-travelled road of electro-pop with that unstoppable voice. She pulls out a cover of Gorillaz' Feel Good Inc that transforms the original's funky escapism into jazzy dream-pop. Her cover of Jack Garratt's Breathe Life (which she performed for triple j's Like A Version) also makes an appearance - it brings out the tension in Garratt's original as she adds even more effortless, dizzy expeditions up the octave. But the real highlight of the evening sees Pavey's sister join her on stage for a cover of Bloom by The Paper Kites. The pair share the same alabaster skin, red hair and angelic vocals and the smiles they exchange mid-song speak volumes.