Caught Live: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny + Amber States + The Great Hereafter @ The Lexington, London

To date in her career Newcastle-born folkie Beth Jeans Houghton has managed to elude simple classification, with critics often preferring to focus on her oddball dress sense and recent celeb lifestyle rather than confront her multigenre sound. That being said, when she arrives onstage tonight wearing an oversized tiger suit outfit, as if she's come straight from a children’s fancy dress party, it's hard not to scratch one's head in befuddlement just a little.

Going by the slightly whimsical, churchly sound of recent free download 'Dodecahedron' – Houghton's first new material since signing to Mute earlier this year – 'cathedral alt folk' might seem like an appropriate, albeit quite contrived, tag for her work. Tonight, however, the twenty-one year-old's glinting eyelashes hint at more mischief than that description might allow, and as her set gains momentum we’re variously treated to the gypsy rhythms of 'I Will Return, I Promise', the skiffle riff of 'Shampoo' (with its tongue-in-cheek tale of romance with a "Black Forest boy") and a plaintive, melancholic Spanish trumpet on 'Sweet Tooth Bird'. As she wryly introduces 'Telephone' by deadpanning “I love you so much I want to cut my hands off... Does everyone know what I’m talking about?”, it's clear that this is an artist whose natural, edgy playfulness offers a refreshing counterpoint to the earnestness of traditional folk.

Beth and her Hooves of Destiny are eager to talk this evening it seems, and, aided by the natural intimacy of The Lexington, they soon establish a keen rapport with the audience. Guitarist Brazey, we're told, recently went to bed one night complaining of sinus problems, and subsequently dreamt of having a blowhole in his head. The band clearly revel in this offbeat sense of fun, and you’re never quite sure where the gig might be headed next as a result. Where it does head at one point is into a sadly misjudged cover of Madonna's 'Like A Prayer', during which the best dancer in the crowd receives a complimentary goodie bag, momentarily returning us all to the school assembly hall in the process.

Of course, until debut long-player Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose arrives in the new year, Houghton's live performances of these songs are all we really have to go on. Aided by the versatile Hooves, the combined vocal offering is impressively rich, full and ethereal; a violin, trumpet and banjo, meanwhile, collectively add some welcome texture and subtlety to the likes of forthcoming single 'Liliputt' (the hot-off-the-presses video for which you can watch below). If that debut's esteemed producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Doves, Elbow) can succeed in harnessing such qualities and translating them to the mixing desk, then there's every chance we might have something very special indeed on our hands.

The night had earlier kicked off with The Great Hereafter, a Winchester four-piece toting a nostalgic, almost classic rock sound. There was a distinctly mid-seventies West Coast feel to much of what we heard, so it came as little surprise to learn of the band's recent Stateside songwriting excursion. Flavours of Tim Buckley and Dennis Wilson, amongst others, were plainly evident throughout what was a polished, if hardly life-altering, set - leaving aside one minor hiccup when the stage lights briefly went out.

For Amber States read Turin Brakes, so keen appear these Londoners to replicate almost every facet of the oft-derided Balham duo's sound (right down to mimicking Olly Knights’ painfully reedy vocal style). The melodies are reasonably strong it must be said, but they'll need to start forging their own path from here.

Beth Jeans Houghton, then: part Joni Mitchell, part Bow Wow Wow? Laura Marling's enigmatic soul sister? 'Big cat folk'? She's quite possibly all of the above on tonight's evidence, and yet indisputably her own woman at the same time.

Go here to view a gallery of Richard Gray's photos from Thursday night's show.

Beth Jeans Houghton has one final date remaining on her current UK tour - a hometown show at Newcastle's Cluny venue on October 26. New single 'Liliputt' (video below) will be released on 7" and download on November 14, with debut album Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose set to follow on January 23.