The rise and rise of Souad Massi continues. It is just over a year since she appeared in the modest surroundings of London's Union Chapel, acting like an uneasy cross between an Algerian folk artist and a western singer-songwriter, but already showing her potential for far wider success.
Now, here she is at the packed-out Queen Elizabeth Hall, with the audience yelling and stomping. Still in her 20s, she has moved from Algeria to Paris and international acclaim in just four years.
She looks much the same, with her jet-black hair, white shirt and designer jeans, but she is a very different performer. Last year she was a shy, charming newcomer with a handful of exquisite and melancholy songs. Now she has toughened up her material and grown massively in confidence.
It is clear that all those comparisons with Joan Armatrading or Tracy Chapman are no longer valid. She has created a style of her own, in which cool, gutsy western pop is matched against influences that range from North Africa to flamenco, West Africa to the Caribbean, but with those intimate, sad-edged ballads thankfully still there.
Her own acoustic guitar is now joined by bass, drums and the 12-string guitar work of Jean-François Kellner, a versatile player who can switch from finger-picking folk balladry to flamenco, or from Arabic-influenced passages to instrumental workouts worthy of Jimmy Page. On her new album Deb (Heartbroken), Massi is joined by a whole range of instrumentalists, but they aren't needed here. With Kellner's help she can switch from rousing, sturdy pop anthems treated with a Spanish or North African edge, through to the gentle acoustic guitar duets where she can show off those clear, breathy vocals.
The songs deal with anything from lost love to hopes for political change. Several, predictably, are influenced by the continuing suffering of those back in Algeria, now made all the worse by the earthquake. Yet for Massi, melancholia and upbeat melodies can go hand in hand, as she proves with the rousing Arabic/flamenco stomp of songs such as Ech Edani.
At the end, acting like any efficient rock trouper, she insists that the house lights be turned on and the audience get to their feet, as she finishes with a dance song then another broken-hearted ballad. Algeria has a new international celebrity.
