Live Review: Nai Palm, Jaala

Jaala bounded on stage with her usual quirky pizzazz and warmed up an otherwise-reserved crowd on this sultry December eve. The Melburnian and roomie of tonight's main act showed her unique flair through a captivating solo performance.

Jaala's hands danced up and down the guitar and she threw her voice every which way on songs like Salt Shaker. But her true character came out through her rambling monologues between songs. "New Year's resolution," she said. "Don't give up." The laughing maniacally, she closed the show by saying, "I was never gonna give up on music".

Then Nai Palm revealed herself as Oxford Art Factory's curtains opened. The lead singer of neo-soul outfit Hiatus Kaiyote has been going out on her own for a year now. Known for her huge vocal range, crystal-clear notes and lyrical topics spanning international themes, this performance proved just as breathtaking.

Without the aid of the usual bass, keys and drums, Palm breathed new life into Mobius Streak, a song from her band's first album. There was a feeling of floating across a lake looking up into a shifting sky full of shooting stars and vivid constellations, created by the undulating chorus of Hiatus Kaiyote's back-up singers Laura Christoforidis, Jace Excell and Alejandro Abapo. "That song is about Adventure Time and influenced by MC Escher," Palm said before moving into a new song. The group's cover of Jimi Hendrix's Have You Ever Been To (Electric Ladyland) was a revelation, spiritual and soulful with stripped-back guitar and ambrosial harmonies.

Palm and her backing vocalists intensified the dread of David Bowie's Blackstar by mixing in dreamlike vocals. Then they closed out the show with a smorgasbord of '90s covers, interlaced with old Hiatus Kaiyote songs like Borderline With My Atoms and a new song, Homebody.