There was something rather fitting about Mulaa Joans’ Stockholm debut at Debaser Nova on Monday night: the 19-year-old artist played to a room filled largely with girls around her own age – and quite a few who were clearly young enough to still need a parent to get them through the door. But if anyone expected a polite teenage audience standing around waiting to be impressed, they clearly had the wrong idea about the Mulaa crowd.
The singing started early – and rather loudly. The fans knew the words to the songs they had come to hear, and many already knew th words to songs Mulaa has yet to release. This wasn’t simply an audience listening to a rising artist, it felt more like a fan club watching one of their own making the leap from bedroom recordings and social media to the Stockholm stage.
Mulaa has spoken openly about writing songs to YouTube beats in her bedroom since she was around 10 or 11, and her DIY beginnins still feel like a part of the connection she clearly has with her audience.
Born in Bath and now based in London, Mulaa Joans has built her career remarkably quickly. The 19-year-old singer-songwriter first attracted attention with covers posted online, before developing her own soulful, emotionally direct material. Her influences range from Billie Eilish and Rihanna to Etta James, and her music moves freely between soul, R&B and pop.
Her breakthrough year has included millions of streams for Love Letter, BBC Introducing recognition and live shows that keep getting bigger. Judging by the reception in Stockholm, the “rising” part in “rising star” may soon need updating.
Her set was a showcase of both sides of Mulaa: the vulnerable songwriter and the young woman who clearly knows exactly how she wants to deliver a song. There was plenty of warmth and interaction between the songs, while her voice could move from intimate to seriously powerful without much warning.
She also slipped in a cover of 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Going On, which the audience sang along to as loudly as anything else during the show.
But Mulaa knows how to save the good stuff for the last. The biggest crowd reactions were reserved for the home stretch, with That Ain’t You and Love Letter arriving as the final one-two punch. The former, released only in August, has become another fan favourite, while Love Letter remains that special song that helped turn Mulaa’s personal storytelling into something thousands of listeners could claim as their own.
The ending was refreshingly uncomplicated. No disappearing backstage, no suspiciously premature goodbye, no “One more song?” routine followed by a carefully choreographed encore. Mulaa simply announced that the final song really was the final song. And when it was over, she said she would be meeting the fans at the merch booth, so the front rows quickly formed a line to the meet-and-greet.
For an artist whose songs are so often about complicated relationships, Mulaa Joans seems to have found a very straightforward relationship with her audience. They know her songs, she knows her fans, and judging by the number of voices singing along, the love goes both ways.
All photos © Nina Uddin
