Spirits failed to be dampened when the grey clouds that had gathered over the central London venue finally opened up, minutes before Pip Millett took to the stage. For close to two decades, the Summer Series At Somerset House each year has hosted a wonderful diverse array of artists; both established and up-and-coming, across all genres in a week-long celebration of live music and culture.
Pip Millett @ Summer Series at Somerset House 2024
London native Nia Smith opened up the first night of the 2024 edition of the Summer Series At Somerset House. Hotly tipped for future success, Smith garnered attention on TikTok with a cover of Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain which has over 3.8 million views.
Currently, with only two songs on streaming platforms, she’s already garnered a healthy following. Her latest song Personal being out a little over 2 weeks and gaining over 350,000 streams and the crowd that has come early to see this young talent already know the words to it. She has them in their feelings with a cover of Hell N Back by London songwriter Bakar before playing a couple of new and unreleased tracks. At War With Myself where she picks up a white electric guitar and plucks incredibly clean chords, punctuating them like percussion, driving the song forward and Little Red Car, another song that showcases her fantastic voice.
The annual festival has the word “Summer” in its title which, this year, seems like false advertising given the dire weather we’ve been having and at about 10 minutes to 9, the heavens duly opened. However t he besotted audience were not cowed by the unrelenting weather as the Mancunian singer charmed them despite the majority that had clearly not prepared for downpours in July. “I’ve been shitting myself for this” she tells the sold out crowd. She exudes a warmth; needed tonight as the crowd are getting progressively wetter but her down to earth realness puts the crowd at ease immediately, beginning with Eating Out, from the first of her two EP’s released this year; Tell Jimmy.
She brings Nia Smith back out to perform one of her biggest songs, 2020’s Heavenly Mother and the crowd sung along to every word. These Hoes and Husband followed, from 2024’s second EP, Tell Jimmy I’m Fine. These got the crowd dancing. At this point, saturation is setting in for many and they can’t get much wetter so they begin to loosen up and enjoy the vibe of the night. Some have run inside the building and have located poncho’s and a few umbrella’s have opened up which, from a viewing perspective is not favourable to those of us vertically challenged such as myself so it became a case of working the angles to get a view of the young RnB singer.
Irish singer songwriter Maverick Sabre joined Millett on stage to perform their collaboration Miss You . “When I was fifteen I saw Mav in Manchester, and now he’s doing this with me” she beams not quite believing she’s just performed with someone she admires so much at her own headline show.
Her cover of Otis Redding’s Try A Little Tenderness exudes a voice and a soul far beyond her youth. A modern, neo-soul take on a song nearly 60 years old, but it sounds fresh. London MC Strandz joined her for Hard Life which energised onlookers with its 1968 soul sample of It’s So Hard To Break a Habit by The Webs – a sample used in Killer Mike’s 2023 track Don’t Let The Devil.
“I might get a bit emotional on this one” she pauses as she receives warm cheers from the crowd. They offer their support to her before starting June from her 2020 EP Lost In June. It’s a song that she had written for her Nan who passed away last year. A beautiful ode to a loved one and one so relatable to those who have loved and cared for an elderly relative towards the end of their life.
It’s not too long before the fourth and final guest of the night, rapper Ghetts. He is no stranger to this stage as he was the first grime artist to headline the Summer Series back in 2022, following his Mercury Prize nomination for Conflict Of Interest and perform two collaborations, Jonah’s Safety from the rapper’s latest album and Running , a 2021 track from the singer. The energy the rap veteran exudes is complimented by Pip’s calm nature and he is continually proving despite being two decades into his career, he is right now at the top of his game.
“I want to thank a man called Ray who booked me for this show” she says earnestly and thanks the crowd for coming and “sticking it out in the rain.” The 26 year old seems genuinely surprised that these people are here for her and fishes with debut single, 2018’s Make Me Cry which was a treat to end with. A song written about her coping with depression after the passing of her father the paradox of a song being wonderful to singalong to but with lyrics that are really quite heartbreaking: “Cause I know that when I’m lonely you’ll be by my side, but it’s only when I’m lonely, that you seem to make me cry.” As cathartic as live music can often be, this moment of thousands of people singing these lines whilst exhuming their own past grief is powerful.
In the past 6 or 7 years, Britain has unearthed some wonderful RnB and soul singers such as Jorja Smith, Cleo Sol, Mahalia and Joy Crooks. Pip Millett carries on in that vein, balancing matter-of-fact honesty with charisma and impeccable songwriting – as well of course, a beautiful voice. Millett gave everything to this sold out London crowd and through this wet summers evening, we all felt her vulnerabilities, her insecurities and her pain. Yet we were left joyous to share one of the biggest shows of her career to date.
Pip Millett @ Summer Series at Somerset House 2024
Live review of Pip Millet at Summer Series At Somerset House 2024, London by Chris Lambert on 11th July 2024. Photography by Sophie Harbinson.
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