Gigs that rely on one person, a DJ and a few records or – God forbid – MP3s are often rightly mocked. They can feel like you’ve paid a tenner to watch someone do karaoke, and require the performer to possess enough talent to make the experience worthwhile. Singer-songwriter Kelela wants to prove that she can pull it off. Since first playing a sold-out show in London in November 2013, a month after releasing her debut mixtape Cut 4 Me, she’s learned how to squeeze the most life out of her limited live format, and if the crowd’s cheers and shouted declarations of love for her tonight are any indication, she’s not doing a bad job.

She takes to the comically bare stage, and proceeds to turn a 10pm weeknight show into one with a joyous 3am dance-party atmosphere. That club-like sensation makes sense, given Kelela’s ties to well-respected UK electronic label Night Slugs and its LA affiliate Fade to Mind. Both labels have their roots in late noughties nightlife scenes, and Kelela channels that sweaty, communal closeness into a gorgeously sung set.

Her music is often described as R&B, owing to her ability to slide between breathy, low tones and a soulful falsetto, but is actually more challenging and off-kilter than the over-compressed sound of the genre today. A handful of producers on her sister labels make her beats, and they’re designed to shake the sticky floors of underground venues just like this one.

Punters whoop during Send Me Out, crafted by Night Slugs co-founder Kingdom, and sing along to Guns & Synths and Enemy’s vocal hooks. “If you ain’t shaking your ass, I don’t really know what you’re doing,” Kelela says, before her encore – and judging by the enthusiastic dancing under way when she leaves the stage with music still blaring, she knows how to read the room.