Last Wednesday night, English singer, songwriter and producer extraordinaire Shura drew a packed house to The Empty Bottle— returning for the first time since 2016. The comeback show in Chicago was in honor of her sophomore album Forevher and marked Shura’s debut headline set in the city.
Shura’s two albums are both full of intricately produced and layered earworms, but she and her two bandmates stepped up to the challenge of recreating her complex songs in a live setting. Shura first hooked me as a listener with her relatable and vulnerable confessions in songs like “2Shy” and “Indecision,” and during her live show, she carried herself with the same honest demeanor. Whether she was poking fun of herself for her own stage banter at Austin City Limits Festival or she was breaking the fourth wall and reaching out to the audience members during “Touch”, there was constantly an air of humility that made it even easier to connect with the music.
The energy of the night culminated when Shura performed the epic “White Light,” which spans over ten minutes on her first album. During her show, Shura threw everything she had into the performance of the tune and thrashed around the stage, keeping the energy high through the end of the show.
See where you can catch Shura on tour next here, and listen to the new album in full below.
