Carla J Easton drew heavily on material from her forthcoming album Sugar Honey for this Glasgow show, and on this evidence it will be well worth waiting for, writes David Pollock

Carla J Easton, Hug & Pint, Glasgow ****

“Someone said to me, ‘are you returning?’” Carla J Easton told the audience at this gig in early support of her new solo record Sugar Honey, out in October. “I said, ‘It's been three years mate, chill.’” She’s hardly been invisible in that time, most notably releasing an album as Poster Paints with former Frightened Rabbit guitarist Simon Liddell, but the sometime Vaselines and Belle & Sebastian collaborator’s solo projects are always worth getting excited about.

Her 45-minute set here was heavy on material from the new record, and it was pretty much all great. Backed by an all-male, four-piece band, with two female-fronted acts supporting in Ruby Gaines and Kohla (Easton: “this is the first all-female line-up I've played in years… if you see a line-up like this, book a ticket so promoters know we want more women on stage”), her skill as a natural pop melody writer with real emotional power and lived experience in her lyrics shone through.

On the evidence of this performance, much of that experience comes from “a lot of shit exes”, although not in the sense that she seems to be moping in song about any of them. This music is affirmative and independent of spirit – these are proper anthems about getting by and getting on.

The title track, Easton noted to affirmative cheers, is about women being unable to walk the streets while lost in music on headphones. One Week, with its “invisible” saxophone playing, is inspired by a “f***-it flight” her friend suggested she take to Nashville. Blooming 4U, a truly mighty pop song, like a Motown classic with a Casio keyboard tone, is about being yourself rather than fitting another’s expectations.

This was followed in turn by Attack of the Glam Soul Cheerleaders, a song every bit as joyful as the title suggests, closing a show which felt less like a return and more the beginning of a career evolution.

Music review: Carla J Easton, Hug & Pint, Glasgow