"The voice that I have is stubborn," says Mariza. "It has within it a yearning which is constantly seeking its own fado."

With her short, peroxide-blonde hair, heavy hooded eyes, tall thin frame and a habit of performing stock still with her arms stretched heavenwards, Mariza looks like some sort of art installation.

She sounds more striking still, with a voice which can soar with happiness, quiver with passion and luxuriates in melancholy.

Born in Mozambique but raised in Lisbon, this 29-year-old singer is the 21st-Century torch bearer for fado, Portugal's plaintive, bittersweet song-style made famous by legendary "fadista" Amelia Rodrigues.

Combining tragic lyrics with African slave-derived rhythms and minor-key melodies that draw on flamenco and Arabic music, fado is full of passion and performed with an intensity initially unfamiliar to British audiences.

However, Mariza, who released her third album Transparente in the spring, seems as comfortable embodying this style for a new generation as she is in her own skin she was singing fado before she could read, having been captivated by the music at one of the rural cafes where "actresses, actors, writers, bohemian people" would come together to hear fado performed.

"I was very little at the time and my mum didn't let me stay in the cafe too much," says Mariza. "I remember sneaking out, looking, with the door a little bit open.

"There was a very dark ambience, smoke. They were amateurs who would sing but everyone listened to the fado with lots of respect like being in a church. It was like something from another dimension, really, really strange. I started feeling the passion."

Having released her debut album Fado In Me in 2001 and conquered British audiences a year later with a breathtaking performance on Jools Holland, Mariza has now sung everywhere from the Womad Festival to the Hollywood Bowl, selling out London's South Bank and dueting with Sting for the official album of the Olympic Games.

In April Transparente became the first fado album to debut at number one on the Portuguese album chart, although some regretted the swathing of her singing in the strings of the Rio de Janeiro Session Orchestra.

Usually backed simply by the sparse, traditional combination of Portuguese guitar, Spanish guitar and bass, it seems the vast edifice of Mariza's voice is best appreciated when left virtually to support itself.

Starts 8pm, Tickets £22-£17.50, 01273 709709