As frontman of the Guillemots, Fyfe Dangerfield seemed to present himself as a kind of professor of pop music, a new Brian Wilson with tales of lost loves instead of hallucinogenic references. He and his band were signed for a colossal amount of money in 2004 and have so far made two critically acclaimed albums. Inspired by influences that ranged from Mozart to Motown soul, they composed huge, sweeping pop songs, without ever sticking to a particular genre or formula. Given this amount of musical freedom, it seems quite odd that Dangerfield has felt the need to go solo, as normally musicians do this to play in a style they can’t in their normal outfit.

Initially this seems the case. As Dangerfield takes to the stage accompanied only by two violinists and plays his first songs, things seem more delicate, more ornate and operatic than the Guillemots. But, as the set goes on and his band expands to a five-piece, things get a bit livelier and he returns to the rollicking, joyful pop music of his day job.

Dangerfield’s songs seem to come in two categories: there are the slow, mournful, almost folky numbers, like his cover of Billy Joel’s She’s More Than a Woman To Me and his tender Livewire, both of which are reminiscent of early Belle & Sebastian and vintage Joni Mitchell. The others are big, stomping pop songs, which borrow from Elton John’s heyday like She Needs Me and Faster Than the Setting Sun. It’s a bit schizophrenic at first, but quickly Dangerfield and his band build a rhythm that carries them through. Strangely, given this is his first solo tour, he plays four Guillemots songs, including a beautiful Made Up Love Song #43 by himself on the piano.

Tonight’s gig was great and you get the sense that Dangerfield will be writing great pop songs for many years to come. It’s just puzzling that he feels he couldn’t play these songs with the Guillemots.