Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Glasgow review: 'a teasing taster'

Sophie Ellis-Bextor, SWG3, Glasgow ★★★

Sophie Ellis-Bextor had already carved out a credible pop niche as a cool kitchen disco diva, juggling the domestic chores while shimmying around the island worktop, before the use of her 2001 hit Murder on the Dancefloor in the final scene of Saltburn seduced a whole new generation of fans and propelled the track back into the Top Ten last year.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Ellis-Bextor admits that she has shamelessly exploited that return to the spotlight in her mid-forties to fuel her new album, Perimenopop, a playfully titled dance party collection which acts its age and remains just the right side of pink stetsons and dancing round handbags with its lushly produced timeless disco pop. If Kylie can do it in her late fifties, then why not Ellis-Bextor?

This solo show was the culmination of a ten-day album promotional tour of instore signings and outstore gigs attended by her most dedicated fans. Rather than treat this as some contractual obligation, Ellis-Bextor threw herself into her six-song performance (to backing track) with infectious energy, nifty, natural moves and vocal ad libs. During the post-show Q&A, she freely confessed to enjoying growing older, and she brought an unforced enthusiasm to the whole event.

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As for the songs, new held up effortlessly next to old. The disco pop ecstasy of Relentless Love paired well with her faithful version of Crying at the Discotheque, Alcazar's brilliant Sheila B Devotion-sampling Noughties banger. Dolce Vita clung on to summer, refusing to leave the Ibiza beach bar. Its pure Pina Colada-meets-Nineties deep house strains segued seamlessly into Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love), while Freedom of the Night celebrated the giddy whirl of nightclubbing as effectively as the exultant Murder on the Dancefloor. This was a teasing taster of the euphoria to come were Ellis-Bextor to tour this joyful material with a full live band.

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