One of my equivalents of LCD Soundsystem being at the first Can show in Cologne in 1968 is probably being at the first European Ezra Furman and the Boyfriends show in London’s Sebright Arms ten years ago. I still have the T shirt. Anything Can Happen had just been released and it remains one of the most cheering songs I know. Ezra and that song have a special place in my musical heart because they performed a couple of weeks after my mother’s death and it really lifted my spirits.

I’ve seen Ezra a number of times in venues ranging from pub basements, a room in what used to be a dental surgery and the Brixton Academy. There was at least one show where the strain of touring, the sudden high profile and dealing with the issues around his gender identity rendered her more vulnerable on stage than any performer I’ve ever seen. She now identifies as a transgender woman.

Unusually for an American artist, Ezra has come out very strongly against the ongoing massacre of Palestinians and has encouraged fans to donate to organisations providing humanitarian relief, a position which brought her a predictable mix of support and abuse. Undaunted by this, she related the history of her Polish and German grandparents who arrived as child refugees in Boston and explained how the Hebrew word “ger”, often rendered as “stranger” in the Bible also has the sense of meaning “refugee” or “migrant”. She told the audience that when she sees what is happening in Gaza and Sudan it has a very personal impact. God is important to Ezra and she talks frequently of him or her as an immanent presence in her own life yet always avoiding preaching.

Like all the best artists Ezra is constantly transforming. Earlier iterations were approximations of a tuneful American punk band. Ms Ezra Furman is a hybrid chanteuse, Leonard Cohen style troubadour, country punk guitarist who can make an audience laugh. These shows don’t have a band, just excellent piano accompaniment from Ezra’s chum Ben.

Her lyrics draw a lot on her relationship with Judaism, her coming to terms with her female identity and an unsettling sense of self loathing. It is a bit disconcerting to be sitting in a church listening to someone singing about their alcoholic phase when they were wanking random strangers. But she makes beautiful songs out of that bleakness.

If I had been consulted on the set list, I would have dropped the one dull song about halfway through in favour of Anything Can Happen, but it really wasn’t a greatest hits night. That said, it was a great show by a wonderful songwriter who seems genuinely surprised that so many people appreciate her work. It was the sort of show you leave with a warm glow after hearing someone reveal themselves to you almost completely