Growing up on council estates in south-east London, Newman started writing songs in primary school with the help of her aunt, who died when she was just 11. As a young girl, she processed her grief by sitting down at her Yamaha keyboard and writing about that overwhelming loss.
Tragedy and trauma shape all of Newman’s work and, as she told the London crowd, many of the songs she has released were written in her teenage years as her family trod the poverty line and handled run-ins with police, addiction, grief and abuse. (She remains close to her family and lives in a cabin in her sister-come-manager’s garden.)
Newman’s candour clearly means an enormous amount to her fans, many of whom are young women and teenage girls. Their most emotional cheers were reserved for a powerful performance of Family Matters, which deals with her brother’s substance addiction. Not all of her fans live such difficult lives, but she speaks for a struggling generation – and she looked out for them, too, on Tuesday night, repeatedly stopping the show to make sure they had enough water and to tell them that she “f—ing loves” them.
Even the most adoring teens got a bit bored in the middle of her set – it’s hard to overlook the fact that many of her melancholic tunes sound very similar. Newman would do well to step out of her comfort zone soon, hopefully on a bigger stage. It’s clear that she is a hugely talented artist who clearly still has so much to give.
Touring the UK until April 18, then playing summer festivals; skyenewman.com