Joss Stone is the latest ludicrous example of what can happen when British performers spend too long in America, but Corinne Bailey Rae hasn't come back with a faux Californian accent. "Good evenin', it's good to be back home," she begins, sounding as defiantly Yorkshire as puddings and Brian Glover.

If Rae's Leeds inner-city charm is an unlikely hit with Americans, her music is more predictably transatlantic - a blend of Norah Jones, Sade, Tracey Thorn and Mary J Blige. However, she comments that she is not keen on being "put in boxes" and goes on to prove the point. A funky cover of Jimi Hendrix's Long Hot Summer Night is as unexpected as Rae's insistence that "you really need to hear this in heavy metal clubs".

If only she were able to cut this loose more often. Rae has a remarkable voice that isn't always best served by the more sweetly inoffensive stuff on her unit-shifting debut album. However, a new song - called No Love Child - gives her chance to show what she can do. It begins as an old-fashioned soul tearjerker but builds into the sort of stomp beloved of Primal Scream.

The set still rests on her two 2006 biggies. Like a Star sounds more sleepy-eyed than ever - perhaps due to 12 months spent on the road. She finally lets rip in Put Your Records On, gleefully belting out the "let your hair down" line as if remembering that she really should take her own advice more often.

· At Leeds University (0113-380 1342), tomorrow. Then touring.