Entering the beautiful Auckland Town Hall with fairy lights in her hand, Camille O’Sullivan sets the scene for her melancholic, spiritual, and deeply moving show. Nick Cave’s ‘God is in the House’ invokes the tone for this connected evening of songs from artists she loves. Her simplicity and craft bring together a magical blend of new takes on often-familiar songs. She deeply loves Bowie, Cave, Cohen, Dylan, Reznor and others. You will love her, too.

O’Sullivan is an Irish Chanteuse who brings character to each number; slightly different outfits, attitudes, and most of all a deep-seated emotion. She’s backed by a 4-piece band whom O’Sullivan intuits with, and then commands with gesture. There’s a lovely relationship between the four men on backing, and O’Sullivan as the front woman. Sometimes the songs are performed acapella; ‘The Port of Amsterdam’ is done with guttural strength. Her version of ‘Look Mummy (No hands)’ is deeply affecting, building and retreating as it finds its way into our hearts.

There’s a quirky, slightly retro vibe to the set; a bunny lamp, some bentwood chairs, sparkly red shows. The whole thing is sensual but simple, and just a wee bit off-kilter. I like it.

The real strength is O’Sullivan’s voice. She finds the still point in a song and stretches it, massages it, then fills it with emotion. She has a gift for finding the chink in the armour of a song and swimming around in its emotional texture. ‘There’s a crack in everything; that’s where the light gets in’, writes Leonard Cohen, and this sums up her approach perfectly as her voice gets in to the heart of a song/story. O’Sullivan is inherently dramatic and capable of telling a story with words and tone. Her version of ‘Hurt’ is like hearing a female Johnny Cash and it’s fantastic.

The sound delivery in the Town Hall makes it hard to hear the words of every number, and much of the spoken word was lost. The song set also lacks a predictable structure; a small gripe. But the tone of her voice is exceptional, and this alone gives the Town Hall a magical atmosphere that will linger for a long time. She has a clear, untrammelled voice that easily slides off and around the key, and still manages to sound great.

Nick Cave’s ‘Ship Song’ is a wonderful way to exit. She builds it with accompaniment, then strips it back to acapella with the band and audience joining in. With her handbag in hand, she exits out into the night. It’s as if we have been visited by a Celtic Goddess of song, exposing the pain and healing it, finding connection through song. A gorgeous, truthful performer, instinctive and bold, offering equal slices of mystery and shared emotion. 

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