Live Review | Saya Gray @ Electric Brixton, London

Saya Gray

Electric Brixton, London

4th November 2025

Photography by Taylor Pettigrew @the.tayloredit

George Ward

Freelance journalist and online editor for CLUNK. Can be found out and about in Bristol, finding cheap records or having a pint on King Street.

Saya Gray showcases insane technical ability, stage presence and complete versatility at electric London gig

Saya Gray, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer, has consistently remained one of the most exciting voices of the last few years. From earlier projects ’19 MASTERS’ and ‘QWERTY 1 + 2′ blending countless genres and textures into experimental pop collages to the more conventional but equally impressive ‘SAYA’ album this year, we’ve been eagerly waiting for Gray to return to the UK to see the magic live.

The first section of the night pulled from new album ‘SAYA,’ from February of this year. Though less experimental than earlier albums, these tracks highlighted Gray’s masterful versatility, from the dreamy shuffle of ‘..THUS IS WHY ( I DON’T SPRING 4 LOVE )‘ to the insanely catchy ‘SHELL (OF A MAN)’. The latter jumped to life when performed live, with Saya Gray looking just as at home noodling the country-inspired riff as she does during the huge drops of bassier tracks.

Satisfyingly, the setlist was split mainly into each of Gray’s projects individually, a tactic which only worked due to how radically different each one sounds. Despite a somewhat muted response from the crowd when asked if there were any fans of ’19 MASTERS’ in the crowd (leading to Gray commenting “lots of new fans then!”), we were treated to to a number of earlier tracks, including the raw but angelic ‘EMPATHY 4 BETHANY,’ with its unexpected chord progressions and stripped back sound allowing her voice to take centre-stage.

The joy of this set was just how well it flowed together, with these quiet moments appearing at completely natural moments throughout. However, the true highlight came when Gray performed tracks from ‘QWERTY’ and ‘QWERTY II’. These EPs remain some of the most original, delightfully weird and completely underrated projects from the last few years and seeing them come to life was one of the musical highlights of the year so far.

Of these, it was ‘DIZZY PPL BECOME BLURRY’ which completely blew us away. Despite the studio version’s countless vocal effects, insanely groovy synth arpeggios and brutally heavy drums, Saya and her incredibly talented band recreated every detail, with her leaping around stage for the huge drops. She is a true master of a frontwoman and an unbelievably confident performer.

Watching Saya Gray live forces you to fully appreciate just how multi-talented she is. As well as being an outrageously talented producer and vocalist (as is evident from her studio projects), she is also a multi-instrumentalist, with so many moments allowing her to show off her bass skills, an underappreciated element of her sound. Standing with her double-neck guitar/bass combo, she confidently stood out as a truly unique performer in a sea of art-pop acts.