Charlie Simpson live at St. Pancras - The Station Sessions

A few months back I went to see the lovely Nerina Pallot at The Station Sessions, a beautifully British sort of affair which unfolds pretty much as its title makes out: a session in the station. Of course, when that station happens to be the wondrously baroque St Pancras, it makes everything that little bit more special. I was blown away by Nerina's performance and the overall atmosphere of the place, and it's an atmosphere Charlie Simpson managed to re-create with ease.

I've been a fan of Charlie's debut album Young Pilgrim for a while now, it's full of acoustic, melodious tracks that seem a far better fit for him than his previous material - they bring his voice to the fore and serve to show his talents as a songwriter.

Indeed, with the likes of Ed Sheeran and James Morrison purveying a supermarket brand of singer-songwriting, Charlie's material seems thoroughly more authentic and heartfelt, a quality only emphasised in tonight's performance.

Set up on a stand in the middle of the station concourse, beneath the cavernous arched ceiling, Charlie had commuters stopping in their droves to listen. One breathless girl stood behind me enthused to a friend on the phone 'You'll never guess who I'm just listening to! I can't believe my luck!'. Overhead, two lovers kissed and cuddled as Charlie worked his way through a smattering of tracks from Young Pilgrim.

As an album, Charlie's debut solo effort lends itself incredibly well to intimate live performances like these - the tracks are content to let good, honest quality do the talking rather than flashy studio trickery and seeing them in this setting, they seemed to speak out to every one of the onlookers. Particularly touching was Charlie's dedication of his song Thorns to the sad passing of Apple boss Steve Jobs.

All in all, another resounding success for the Station Sessions and a wonderful showcase of Charlie's solo material.

The set-list was as follows:

Thorns
Cemetery
Down Down Down
Sundown
If I Hide Will You Come Looking
Parachutes
Farmer And His Gun