Hil St. Soul – Hideaway Streatham 01/02/2019

A sell-out Hideaway audience were treated to a night of upbeat soul from Hil St. (Street) Soul.
Hil St. Soul is a typical example of an artist’s playing the small venue circuit. She is a talented singer-songwriter, is hard-working and to date has not had that big break. She has released five albums of mostly self-penned upbeat soul songs.
She opened the show with ‘Alright’ from the 2002 album, ‘Copasetik and Cool’ and followed with ‘Release’ and ‘Nostalgia’. Next up was ‘Wash Away, then ‘Bag of Chips’, Hil was in her groove now and finished the first set with the infectious ‘Don’t Forget The Ghetto’ a song about remembering where you come from and then ‘Pieces’.
The second half began with an acoustic version of ‘Until You Get Back To Me’. It is good to see somebody not trying to copy Aretha’s classic version without adaptation. ‘Strictly a Vibe Thang’ and ‘Smile followed before a rework of the Isley Brothers ‘ For the Love of You’ with opportunities for members of the front row to sing a chorus. The set closed with ‘I’ve Got Me’. Hil and her excellent band did not leave the stage before encoring with ‘Outstanding’ and ‘Because I Let You Go’.
The audience left the Hideaway going into the cold Streatham snow with a warm glow created by this performance.