Leeds Wardrobe 4th September 2026
Natalie Imbruglia is buzzing tonight – her new, independently produced album is out today. Almost breathlessly, she tells us she’d like to play stadiums because she wants the money but, if she can find a sugar daddy, she’d rather be a pub singer and play venues like this – Leeds’ 400-capacity Wardrobe. The direct buzz from a crowd squeezed tight and up close is visceral for a main-stream pop artist but Natalie has something special that wins devotion.
It’s a special night for the fans – having delivered an electronic album, she performs the songs totally differently with two acoustic guitarists providing harmonies high and low. It brings out new aspects and a welcome unique experience. That’s alongside plenty of chat and asides about her struggles, her ADHD, her peri-menopause, her OCD, that bring us all on-side. The songs seem more personal and stronger without pulsing disco backings. ‘Debbie’ becomes magnified and lines about sleeping in her car, needing a coffee and recovering from a gin splurge turn real. Imbruglia says its her favourite, a lullaby to herself – about “not being a Debbie Downer on myself”. She goes on to make a big joke out of dealing with microphone cable tangles with OCD.
Stories about writing and performing prompt reflections on ‘Beautiful Love’ being so different to sing acoustic. It’s a song about loving yourself (don’t snicker at the back, we’re talking acceptance, not what Tom Waits called “making the scene with a magazine”). An oldie, ‘Torn’, is revealed as a total banger on twin acoustic guitars – a stadium-sized anthem – and sees arms waving and fans so glad to hear it this way. Another treat is ‘Bird Of Paradise’, an exclusive, only available as a 7” addition to the deluxe vinyl edition and is a survival song about feeling the opposite of a Bird Of Paradise. It rounds out a forty-minute set of eight songs (four old, four new) in front of a packed house that leaves the audience wanting more.
If I was Imbruglia I’d bottle the magic and get a live set out now; there’s twinkle and power there.
Ross McGibbon