To remind all that life is good five years on from the end of two unhappy relationships – a painful public split from rapper Nas and some problematic record labels - Kelis chopped her Great Escape show into two halves divided by snippets from Nina Simone’s Feeling Good.

The choice was apt. Gone is the dance of 2010’s Flesh Tone and in is brass-led, Stax-loving, funk pop.

She lent heavily on tracks from her sixth album Food, released on UK label Ninja Tune, with Jerk Ribs’ smooth groove being the pick of the tunes.

Early fave Trick Me was irresistible, as was the Andre 3000 vehicle Millionaire, but pop tease Milkshake was cut short and all too often we had to listen to the New Yorker chatting the breeze rather than singing.

At one point, singing lyrics from notes on a music stand (which made it feel like the show was a touch thrown together), she decided to take a seat. With that the energy disappeared.

Ups and downs were a theme for the evening. No sooner would she be twirling in her new blue dress, declaring “my motive is to have a good time,” than her black flowing curls became still and the mood more mellow, as she pontificated on everything and nothing.