Caroline Sullivan 

Dagny review – Norwegian star still lost in the crowd

The Backbeat singer glitters and growls on stage but she needs a bigger venue and personality to compete with the likes of Pink and Charli XCX
  
  

Dagny at the Lexington, London
In full fig … Dagny at the Lexington, London. Photograph: Maria Jefferis/Redferns

Tromsø-born Dagny Sandvik is already feted in her native Norway and making inroads elsewhere with her first international single, Backbeat, which reached 26m streams on Spotify. Yet she’s still at the stage where a ticket for her (sold-out) show costs just £7, and she can glide through the audience without being accosted before her set. She’s in full fig – glitter on eyelids, metallic silver dress and weapons-grade platform heels – but makes her way past fans almost unnoticed.

The streaming figures say that her next stop should be bigger venues, and once she’s actually on stage, the crowd leap to attention – but Dagny in the flesh is not easily quantifiable. After two years’ touring, she has the confidence of an old hand; backed by an assertive guitar band, she’s cultivated a glam-rock stompiness that serves her pulsing tunes well. She sets about the opening Ultraviolet – seemingly a homage to both Robyn and Blancmange – like a blond leopard making short work of a steak. Like a Bullet is a growling menace that engages her entire body, while singing Backbeat every night since 2015 has made it a lighter-waver that demands big-stage fireworks.

On the other hand, Dagny is hampered not just by the size of the venue, but a kind of enthusiastic anonymity. Pink and Charli XCX, working in the same ballpark, are natural big personalities; Dagny has the assurance and the voice, but that career-making jot of singularity hasn’t blossomed yet.

 

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