Simple songs; voice like the grand canyon: George Ezra, at OVO Hydra, reviewed

It would be easy to be a little dismissive of George Ezra. A wholesome late twentysomething hailing from the rock and roll badlands of Hertfordshire, Ezra is the kind of pop star you could happily take home to meet your grandparents. A graduate of the British and Irish Modern Music Institute, good-looking in that long, toothy Prince William way, he seems to be laboratory designed not to offend or challenge even the most prickly sensibilities.

His music is harder to pin down. With its repeated calls and refrains, it blends folk, pop, soul, blues and calypso styles into an uncomplicated feelgood mix that is both old-fashioned and summer-fresh. The melodies are bright crayon drawings; immediate and insistent. Most of the chords can be found in the opening pages of Bert Weedon’s skiffle-era Play in a Day guitar tutorial. The lyrics find hope and relief in a difficult world through the most elemental things: travel, love, friends, sunshine.

Yet there is a twist. Ezra brings to these simple songs a voice like the grand canyon, the kind of voice that appears as an emotional ambush every time it emerges from his mouth. Think Joan Armatrading, Harry Belafonte, Odetta. Rich and deep, it’s a voice born to lend gravitas to even the most bare-boned rhythmic folk and soul: a lovely gift; an aural Kinder Surprise. (Just for balance, he also possesses a fine falsetto.)

If this all sounds like a strange list of attributes for a 2022 pop star, its appeal is beyond question. Ezra has had three number one albums – Wanted on Voyage, Staying at Tamara’s and this year’s Gold Rush Kid – and a pailful of hit singles. The arena tonight is packed with kids and their parents, roaring themselves ragged to the anthems, swaying gently to the lullabies.