Σtella at Brudenell Social Club 

The walk through Hyde Park is dark at 8pm in October, and the air is pretty chilly. I’m layered up and Brudenell-bound.

When I arrive, Lola Simms is performing a sweet opening set. The stage is doused in purple light and has a bedroom-like essence that feels intimate and nostalgic. Her soft vocals are perfectly warming.

At bang on 9pm the lights dim and, one by one, the band take their places. Decked out in loose linen shirts and cast in warm red lighting, their collective presence brings a certain release to the room. It’s no longer a chilly evening in October – it’s a hot summer night, I’m at a festival, and I’ve been drawn into a tent that holds a sense of anticipation in the air. The crowd quietens and the band open with one of their signature ear-worm guitar riffs, from ‘80 Days’ off their latest album Adagio (2025). The first section of their set continues along similar lines – soft melodies accompanied by Σtella’s meditative musings. The band only occasionally pause between songs – most of the tracks are blended seamlessly together, making Σtella’s vocals sound like one long stream of recurrent thought. The coupling of her refrains with the catchy guitar loops has an almost dizzying effect and mind you I am not drinking (although a pint of Stella was tempting). Mixing tracks from Adagio (2025) with the 2022 LP Up and Away, Σtella sonically swaddles us with her artistic landscape, and, like babies, we stare back wide-eyed. About a third of the way into the set, Σtella tells us that the next song is in Greek and asks if anyone in the audience tonight is Greek. To this, there is an excited cheer from a group in the middle. The band begin their performance of ‘Ta Vimata’, and the enthusiasm of the fans in the middle gives the song the special feeling of home.

As the set reaches its middle, Σtella announces that the next song is an upcoming release of hers. The crowd coos in anticipation. Packed with everything she does best, the track has a funkiness to it, but also a building tension that Σtella keeps under masterful control with her mesmerising vocals. Fan favourite ‘Charmed’ from their 2022 album follows – the guitar riff injects a rhythm into the audience which lingers until the set’s finale.

The rest of the set can only be described as one big fat party. The band take one of their few pauses; by now we know that this does not merely mean a new song, but a new energy. They open into an exquisitely passionate performance of ‘Manéros’, which sees Σtella grab a tambourine and play it amongst the crowd in a way that renders it a shared instrument. The band follow this with the punchy ‘Another Nation’ and then the synthy ‘Omorfo Mou’ which Σtella decorates with silky vocals. It becomes abundantly clear that she is an expert in concocting track runs that are dangerously danceable. You don’t need to look around to know there is not a single still body in the room – you can feel the movement. Between the guitar strings that run down your spine, Σtella’s hypnotic vocals and the pulse of the drums, the band manage to create their own gravitational field within Brudenell that the crowd cannot resist. I haven’t seen that much Cuban motion since last year’s season of Strictly Come Dancing. Hell, even the nonchalant dude in front of me is now giving it a bit of hip. I begin to regret my excessive layering. Nothing gives you a taste for tropical heat quite like the deadly jumper-gilet combo in a room of moving bodies.

The crowd is in the palm of the band’s hands, and the band are certainly aware of it. Just as we’re waking up to their groove, they tease us with a premature exit. Of course, an encore is demanded. Relief – they return and feed us more of what we want. They please with a synth-oozing performance of ‘Up and Away’ and finally conclude with ‘Girl Supreme’, which has definite undertones of 80s dance pop.

The striking thing about any Brudenell gig is that when you leave you pass all the people who have absolutely no idea what they just missed out on. Part of you wishes that Σtella divided the crowd, ran outside, jumped on a wooden bench and shook that little tambourine for everybody to dance to.

Words by Mariella Patel