She may be locked in to support the Spice Girls for next summer’s reunion but things are going so well for Jess Glynne that by then it might seem like that running order should be reversed. At a time when the country seems trapped in a spiral of slapstick, the 29-year-old north Londoner is one of the last bastions of national competence, recently notching up a second UK number one album while receiving admiring glances from the US market. Many of Glynne’s best songs are about how hard it can be to hold things together but she remains an appealing, relatable pop-soul grafter: strong and able.
On the opening night of her second tour of UK mega-arenas, she sets out her expanded stall from a rugged iceberg-like stage set big enough to accommodate her four-piece band and a roaming crew of six tracksuited dancers. Glynne herself seems ready for some arctic spelunking, in white cargo pants, vest top and elaborate sunglasses, fiery red hair pulled back in a plait. If her mission is to feel out the best way to integrate new tracks with beloved songs from her debut album, she is confident enough to kick off with the massive Hold My Hand, the urgent but upbeat piano-driven earworm with an irresistible hooting refrain that remains inescapable three years after it reached number one.
Beneath a gigantic screen that periodically beams out her bird of paradise sigil, Glynne spends a lively 90 minutes delivering punchy renditions of established hits, contextualising new tracks – the sombre Thursday, a Dido-esque ode to self-care, comes over particularly well – and providing fans with scattered updates about her emotional life and accelerating career (most of which are slightly baffled variations on “it’s mad!”).
Her voice is impressive throughout but the sound mix is occasionally marred by wayward, sludgy bass dragging things down when Glynne should soar. But her commitment to her fans is endearing. “Embrace reality, and embrace who you are,” she says, finally deferring the last line of a climactic I’ll Be There to the grateful crowd.
At Manchester Arena on 17 November. Then touring until 2 December.
