The UNSPUN Soho showcase presented by Success Express, is a brand new regular night hosted at Soho's only rock n roll hotel Karma Sanctum. I LOVE nothing more than finding new music nights and finding new artists to listen to so I was super excited to come along to this show.

The artists on the rosta tonight are Jay Scott, Tenacity, Luke Askew and Jessica Beth. It's a real mixture of genres so I'm excited to hear everyone do their thing.

The venue itself is a luxury hotel in the heart of Soho spread across 4 floors. It has a gorgeous ground floor bar and a stunning rooftop terrace (with a HOT TUB) there is beautiful artwork of all the greats donning the walls including Prince, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin and Freddie Mercury. 

We head down a flight of stairs and there is a life size Dalek from Doctor Who guarding the door to the basement, which is where the gig is taking place. The space is super intimate with a small bar, comfy sofas and a cute little stage!

The night was kicked off by Jessica Beth who was performing her own music AND accompanying herself on the keys! Jess is a trained opera singer who I’ve known for nearly 15 years and have always been the biggest advocate of. She has recently made the leap from Opera to her own music and the quality of her voice is just incredible. 

The thing about Jess’s music is that it’s REAL. The lyrics are real, raw and extremely relatable. She kicked off with what is going to be her debut single; ‘Cuts Deep’ which is about her experience with self confidence, weight loss surgery and her relationship to her body. As a plus size artist this song literally CUTS DEEP. The lyrics are incredible and Jess beautifully tackles a topic that can be difficult to talk about. 

Jess is the best at chatting in between songs. She speaks so eloquently about music and her warm manner draws an audience into her set. Jess’s songs really tug at the heartstrings and we even got an exclusive preview of a super intimate song about her grandpa who recently passed away. It was an extremely special moment and all of us in the crowd were blessed to share that with her. She is debating releasing it so this is everyone's opportunity to persuade her to release it into the world! 

Jess’s chords and note progressions give me early Amy Winehouse vibes, where there was nothing more important than the message in the music. She finished with a crowd pleasing cover of 'What's Up' by 4 Non Blondes which had the crowd singing along and was a brilliant way to end an amazing set.

Keep an eye on Jess's socials and get down to see her live if you can! I can't wait for her to release these gorgeous songs and to see her next show!

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Next up is Luke Askew, a singer, songwriter and producer who leans into that raw organic soul and groove genre of music.

Instantly the guitar skills from Luke are TOP NOTCH then he started to sing and I was hooked! 

Luke has a soulful sexy sound that gives me early Newton Faulkner. The control he has vocally is something that can't be taught. That is a natural talent that made my 'stank face' appear as soon as he started effortlessly hitting us with complicated riffs.

Luke’s music is the sort of thing you want to play on a vinyl and listen to by candlelight with a glass of vintage scotch.

When I say Luke can play the guitar he can PLAY THE GUITAR. It was like it was a part of him. I always find it so endearing to watch artists really FEEL what they are playing and that was super evident with Luke. He was fascinating to watch.  

The lower register of his voice is like BUTTER. There was one particular riff in his song 'A Diary of a Woman' that physically made me 'UGHHH' out loud to the point where my friend next to me turned and said “Clare that was visceral”

Luke ended his set with one of my favourite songs 'No Diggity' and once again the crowd loved it and provided some exceptional backing vocals! 

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Jay Scott was our next act. He is an americana rock singer, songwriter who plays guitar and piano to accompany his gorgeous gravely vocals! 

Jay plays the guitar for his first song and what struck me was the unique way he played, he had the guitar on his lap like a keyboard and I was fascinated by him, so much so that I forgot to write anything for a while because he had me transfixed! 

His vocals are reminiscent of David Gray and Hozier, he has such a pleasing voice that makes my ears tingle in the best way! I was completely engaged throughout his whole set however his song 'Kiss like a peach' was a personal highlight for me, its a great song and I want to add it to my easy listening playlist.

Jay bought his beautiful daughter up on stage next who is only 17 years old! He played the piano for her whilst she gave us the most stunning version of Amy Winehouse's 'Back to Black'. Her voice was incredible and just as captivating as her dads! I wished the set could go on longer and I would love to see Jay live again. 

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Closing the show was 'Tenacity' with a stripped down set. Usually a group of 4 people, we had the stunning Ula on keys and vocals and the incredible Dan on guitar and backing vocals. 

Tenacity produce cinematic alt pop music which is ambient, really introspective and intelligent! From their first song I was completely transfixed by Ula's voice and the incredible production skills they both displayed. 

By this point in the evening I was so relaxed, luxuriating on one of the comfortable sofas balancing an espresso martini on my knee just absolutely vibing to the gorgeous soundscape that is Tenacity. 

Ula has a quietly confident stage presence that makes me believe that she could sing or play absolutely anything and I would happily watch her do it in awe. The duo graced us with a Jazz standard during their set and I'm not sure if it was the martini's or the ethereal sound but it bought a single tear to my eye. 

Tenacity are a really exciting and captivating group, who are doing things with music that we don't often see which I for one, find EXTREMELY exciting. They have a new fan here and I will absolutely be following their journey and I hope myself and many others are able to see them live again! 

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My final thoughts for this evening started to become ever so slightly blurry as Karma Sanctum make an extremely strong Espresso Martini... but I will say that this is one of my favourite live music shows I have seen in a while. The music was top quality, the crowd was supportive, the venue was stunning and overall the vibes were VIBING. 

Unspun Soho Showcase presented by Success Express was a HIT and I can't wait to see what they are planning next. Take my word for it, make sure you don't miss the next one!