Jehnny Beth
Electrowerkz, Angel, London
30 October 2025

There are some gigs which align perfectly, the timing, the venue, and the artist. It’s a wet evening in London as we head to Angel, the tubes and buses are filled with zombies. We’re not talking the usual rush hour commuters; there are skeletal faces and Dracula’s. It’s the night before Halloween, and as people start to celebrate, we’re off to one of London’s most infamous clubs – The Electrowerkz. Famous for its long-running club night Slimelight, it’s the London home of goth, post-punk, industrial and dark scene; a fitting theme for Jehnny Beths first full gig in London for over a year.

It’s the penultimate show of her European and UK tour to promote her recent album, You Heartbreaker, You. It’s an album that takes Jehnny to harder, punkier territory than her previous solo album. Tonight is a true underplay gig, and it’s hard to believe she’s playing in such a small room. The audience is very much up for it as she and her band squeeze through the crowd to the stage.

Breaking straight into album opener Broken Rib, it’s clear from the start that Jehnny’s lost none of her cathartic energy and stage presence, immediately engaging with the crowd. The front few rows of dedicated fans can’t believe their luck, with no barrier, they get to experience the full force of her performance as a punk gig should be, up close, personal and sweaty.

She has said on the making of the album, “I wanted to make a punk record”, and punk it is. Heavy and in your face with an industrial undertone, the second song in, High Resolution Sadness is pounding hardcore against themes of screen addiction and the need to engage physically, which is certainly what’s happening here tonight. She spoke of touring with Queens Of The Stone Age and playing metal festivals in between shows, and how the experience led to the heavier punk sound of the new album.

Her band are the perfect example of how a three-piece is all you need to play this kind of music, loud fuzzed up bass carrying the music over explosive drumming and with album co-writer and producer Jonny Hostile’s guitar sitting on top, adding the abrasion needed. Single No good For People really gets the crowd going, but Jehnny wants more, encouraging the women to the front and in between songs, telling the crowd to give her more back.

As all musicians and singers will tell you, the more the crowd gives the more the performer gives back. She’s already been in and out of the crowd once by the time she and the band deliver a scorching cover version of Army Of You by Björk, a song that lends itself well to a heavy grunge sound. She’s back in the crowd again for I’m The Man, one of two songs she plays from her previous solo album. Holding a red lit torch to her face in her mic hand, it makes quite a spectacle as the lights drop to pitch black, leaving her face bathed in red light. Anyone who’s seen her before will know she likes to get on top of the crowd, held aloft on people’s shoulders. Unfortunately, the crowd hadn’t read the instructions on the ticket, she jokes as there’s a wobbly moment, “you’re not holding, you’re just touching”, she jokes with one crowd member who coyly admits yes.

As the gig goes on, we’re treated to every track off the new album, from the new metelesque Stop Me Now to the soaringly seductive Out Of Reach. She takes her influences and runs with them. This really feels like a big step into a harder, rawer sound for Jehnny. She still has the visceral energy she’s always had, but now with an added intensity and immediacy reflected in her lyrics about the dire situation the world is in; at one point, she has a t-shirt emblazed with BRO KEN in big red letters. She ducks and weaves around the stage, like she’s dodging punches from a shadow boxer. Making serious eye contact with the crowd, its loud, heavy and intense, but she’s clearly enjoying herself and the intimacy of the venue. By the penultimate song, she’s dragging willing audience members up onto the stage with her.

Next year is sure to be busy for her and her band, off the back of what we’ve seen this evening. This feels like the beginning of an exciting run of new music from Jehnny. She’s said that the album was written and recorded quickly, with her heart, not her head, no overthinking. Hopefully, there’s more to come of this heavier punk music from her; the world doesn’t look like it’s going to sort itself out anytime soon, so Jehnny will undoubtedly keep screaming at it. Fans of Savages, her previous band, will be well pleased with what we saw this evening, and I’m sure she’ll also be picking up plenty of new fans over the coming months with performances like this – let’s hope they can come to her shows ready to carry her weight on their shoulders whilst she carries the weight of the world on hers.

~

Jehnny Bath can be found here: | Facebook | Instagram | X

Words and photos by Robyn Skinner – see her work here: Instagram