K.Flay Slays At Electric Brixton

by | Oct 7, 2023

Kristine FlahertyAKA K.Flay – is unapologetically a weirdo. She spins and flails onstage, and at one point lies on her back and cycles her legs, kicking in time to the music. Flay’s weirdness speaks to her fans directly. “How many people consider themselves to be weird, strange, left of centre?” She calls to exultant cheers. “You’ve gotta nurture that shit,” she answers herself with a triumphant grin, “That shit is your superpower.” Musically and personally she is completely herself, and for one night in Brixton, we were privileged enough to be introduced to her.

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton (Kalpesh Patel)
K.Flay @ Electric Brixton (Kalpesh Patel)

Flay has a lot to celebrate on this tour. Last year she was diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and labyrithitis, and after rounds of unsuccessful treatment she is now fully deaf in her right ear. However, a force of nature like Flay cannot be stopped so easily. Only a month ago she released her latest album, MONO. She opens with her autobiographical explanation of her recent history, Are You Serious?, stalking in from the raised platform and channelling her full nineties female rage. Accompanied by live bass and drums, she jerks like a puppet that’s lost it’s strings. She flips instantly between poetic solemnity and underground bass heartbeats.

The 38-year-old treats her audience like long lost friends, explaining the singles as she goes. She had a crush on someone, she reveals, and sent them her single Shy to show her feelings. Luckily it worked, and they ‘started dating’. “If you have some shit inside you, put it out into the world! Be fuckin’ brave!” She laughs before launching into a re-worked version of Shy. It’s pure loveliness, all openness and honesty, a confession from a punk rock Amy Winehouse. She does heartbreak songs achingly well. Hustler is sweet and bitter live like poison candy. Dividing the stage in two with coloured spotlight divides her sound but the shared grief she invokes in all of us brings us together. Empty, hollow percussion echoes build as she picks herself back up. The tempo climbs as Can’t Sleep begins, and her buzzing samples sting as they meander through the air. “Gimme fucking Zen,” she screams on Zen, her hands  slapping down our imaginary problems as we bounce on each other’s shoulders.

Usually a K.Flay record is production heavy in the footsteps of her hip-hop heroes. Live, she has nowhere to hide and her fuzzy, trash sound bursts forward at every turn. There’s so much grunge and rock hidden beneath the fuzzing trash of her samples as if she was the talented yet bratty adopted daughter of Kim Deal. The bass would make The Prodigy proud, and we relish the chance to jump and rave as she crunches on speaker stacks like a predatory spider. Irish Goodbye, her song about ‘that moment of clarity’ when you realise that you can ‘just fucking leave’ a relationship which isn’t right for you, is fizzing with raw, illicit energy from joy and regret. Punisher maximises her ethereal vocal which dodge between slices of guitar in a dark prayer for the bruised.

For a brief moment, she drops her stage persona. “I won’t take this for granted,” she shares honestly before dropping High Enough and transforming back into a strutting punk iconoclast, smashing her fists down as we summon the energy to match her. She’s decided not to do an encore, but that’s not surprising. Flay takes on the world on her own terms and projects a sense of herself as an individual at every turn, doing her own thing without compromise. In a world of identical female vocalists doing very similar things, K.Flay forges her own path and creates a show which is all her own.

  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton
  • K.Flay @ Electric Brixton

Review of K. Flay at Electric Brixton on 3rd October 2023 by Kate Allvey. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.

Arlo Parks Devotion Proves She’s Just Too Good At Hammersmith Apollo 

Jordan Pundik of New Found Glory @ O2 Academy Birmingham (Nick Allan)

New Found Glory Never Miss, Only Hit At O2 Academy Birmingham

There’s something about a New Found Glory show that feels like coming home. No matter how many years have passed or how much life has changed, when those opening chords hit, you’re right back where it all started — shouting lyrics with your friends, sweaty, smiling, and completely lost in the moment.

Remember Monday @ Latitude Festival 2025 (Kalpesh Patel)

Remember Monday Return With New Single ‘More Than Ever’ Ahead Of Headline UK Tour

Country-pop trio Remember Monday continue their breakout year with the release of their new single More Than Ever, co-written with GRAMMY® winner and chart-topping artist Cian Ducrot. The track arrives just as the band kick off their highly anticipated What The Hell Just Happened? UK and Ireland headline tour, which culminates at London’s iconic O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Davina Michelle (Press)

Davina Michelle Launches Empowering New Era With ‘What A Woman’

Dutch pop sensation Davina Michelle has released her brand-new single What A Woman, an empowering anthem that celebrates the strength, intelligence, and individuality of women everywhere. The track arrives alongside a striking new music video, introducing a bold new chapter for one of the Netherlands’ most successful modern pop artists.

Ash @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Ash Share Video for ‘Ad Astra’ Featuring Graham Coxon

Northern Irish alt-rock stalwarts Ash have shared the video for their latest single Ad Astra, featuring Blur’s Graham Coxon, taken from their brand-new album of the same name — out now on Fierce Panda Records.

Karin Ann (Press)

Karin Ann Teams Up With Suki Waterhouse For Heart-Stirring New Single ‘i was never yours’

Slovak singer-songwriter Karin Ann has unveiled her stunning new single, i was never yours, marking an evolution in sound and storytelling for the rapidly rising artist. The track — co-written with Suki Waterhouse and Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers) and produced by Benjamin Lazar Davis (Maya Hawke) — finds Karin blending folk, country, and indie rock into a sound that feels both intimate and cinematic.

Amy Macdonald (Olivia Rose)

Amy Macdonald Shares Empowering New Single ‘I’m Done (Games That You Play)’

Amy Macdonald continues her remarkable run as one of the UK’s most enduring singer-songwriters with the release of her...
Blair Davie (Press)

Blair Davie Unveil Deeply Personal New EP ‘First And Last’

Scottish singer-songwriter Blair Davie has released their highly anticipated new EP, First And Last, via Giant Music —...
Joyce Manor (Dan Monick)

Joyce Manor Announce New Album ‘I Used To Go To This Bar’ Alongside Lead Single ‘Well, Whatever It Was’

California punk favourites Joyce Manor have announced details of their upcoming album I Used To Go To This Bar, due for release on 30th January 2026 via Epitaph Records. The band have also shared the lead single Well, Whatever It Was, accompanied by a chaotic and comedic Lance Bangs–directed music video that riffs on The Great British Bake Off, featuring cameos from comedians and musicians playing UK rock icons.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing