John Grant’s album Pale Green Ghosts – released last March and ending 2013 as Rough Trade’s album of the year – is a record full of reckoning built upon themes of alienation, loss, heartbreak and low self-esteem.

Prior to the gig, the mood in the atrium of the De La Warr Pavilion was bordering on sedate. Most in attendance appeared benign and unassuming, perhaps indicative of the kind of character drawn to the anti-hero of Grant’s lyrics. He encompasses an impressive spectrum of moods from the sublimely honest and self-aware to the childlike and knowingly ridiculous.

Grant’s voice is the most engaging instru-ment and aided by the Pavilion’s excellent acoustic set-up maintained its lustre throughout, rarely overwhelmed by the band no matter how spectacular their sound.

Opening with the minimalist electro of You Don’t Have To, Grant and his bandmates traversed a set-list mainly comprised of Pale Green Ghost tracks, including litany of insults Black Belt, which should win an award for most obscure adjective in a lyric – “callipygian”, meaning having finely developed buttocks.

Other highlights included GMF, with its shamelessly self-aggrandising and anthemic chorus, and the excellent title track where Grant’s mellifluous tones were beautifully offset by a vaguely sinister drum beat and synth, almost turning six people nearby into clubbers.