Yasmine Hamdan emerges barefoot on a sparse stage, hanging back from the spotlight, and the heady soulful tones and hypnotic rhythms of opener Ta3ala heighten the room’s intimacy.

A decade ago, the Beirut-born and Kuwait-raised singer-songwriter was at the heart of Lebanon’s underground music scene, fronting indie duo Soapkills. Her solo material has proved sleeker and more sophisticated over two albums: 2013’s Ya Nass (Hey People), and Al Jamilat (The Beautiful Ones), released earlier this year.

Based now in Paris and recording for a Belgian label, Hamdan sings in Arabic (but addresses tonight’s crowd in perfect English), and takes inspiration from her pan-Arabic heritage: poets and song and cinema legends such as Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Asmahan, Mahmoud Darwish (whose writings inspired Al Jamilat’s title track) and Omar El Zenni, whose 1940s composition Beirut she reimagines for an encore.

The set showcases Hamdan’s solo catalogue, with her all-male trio – guitar, drums, and electronics – summoning sweet melodies (including recent single La Ba’den) and heavy atmospheres. New track Douss merges personal and political sentiments (“The spring for Arabs is here / Feeding us slogans, lies and deceit”); live, she brings a rockier, more explosive energy than she does on record, although her songs are arguably primed for bigger venues than tonight’s packed sweatbox.

Hal, from her debut album, and featured in Jim Jarmusch’s vampire movie, Only Lovers Left Alive, casts a spell, its eerie beauty building to a delirious climax, and Hamdan relaxes her sultry stare to beam at the transfixed crowd. She makes her presence felt with a tender intensity that lingers, even after the music has faded.