Only days before her 17th birthday, Gabriella Cilmi launched her biggest British tour to date at an unprepossessing breeze-block bunker in Birmingham. As water leaked from the shabby venue's ceiling, the wholesome Australian beauty gamely tried to warm up a modest crowd with her Jagger-sized smile, easy stage manner and impressive vocal versatility.

During a year dominated by rock elder statesmen, Cilmi has scored striking success. Her debut album, Lessons to be Learned, went into the Top Ten in seven countries, selling more than 200,000 copies in Britain. Produced and co-written by the Girls Aloud hit-makers Xenomania, her pop-rock tunes are polished products, but not devoid of warmth or personality.

Backed by a young British four-piece, Cilmi struggled initially to breathe life into the studied, jazzy torch songs Sanctuary and Einstein. The Toytown raunch-rock of Terrifying did not fully convince either. But Cilmi's voice, textured and sultry and older than her tender years, is her trump card. On the mournful weepie Safer and the snappy Motown-pop pastiche Got No Place to Go her smoky purr transcended all those predictable comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone. Even her biggest hit, Sweet About Me, managed to sound fresh and bouncy despite being one of the year's most overexposed and annoyingly infectious singles.

With just one album to draw from, Cilmi had to bulk out her set with cover versions. Her coquettish take on Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River sounded supple and soulful, though blustery overstatement marred the vintage Martha and the Muffins hit Echo Beach. For an encore, she stomped through a passable version of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. This was karaoke, sure, but pleasingly free of stifling classic-rock reverence. Cilmi is clearly talented and, despite her lyrical protestations, sweet. When she has more life experience to fuel the deeper adult emotions in these songs, she will make a truly engaging performer rather than a likeable lightweight.

Tour details: www.gabriellacilmi.com

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