Irish songbird Imelda May rocked and rolled into Bournemouth with a new look and new sound last night - and brought the house down.

The Dublin born singer songwriter, dressed in a killer black dress, sipped from a wine glass as she delighted the Pavilion audience with a punchy set list.

She may be small, but May has an incredibly powerful voice that held its own alongside her talented seven-piece band.

This tour, which comes shortly after the release of her fifth studios album Life Love Flesh Blood, is packed with almost too many stand out tracks to mention.

I Want To Be Your Human and Sixth Sense got the crowd on board early on, just before things took a sultry twist with Big Bad Handsome Man.

May, whose once trademark quiff has given way to a chic fringe, has an easy, engaging onstage rapport to match her musical prowess.

She teased Bournemouth that she was ‘in two places at once because we’re also on The Graham Norton Show tonight - I thought only Jesus could do that’.

Her lyrics attest to a life well lived, from Bad Habit, about overspending to get over heartbreak, to the amazing single Black Tears.

May standing front of stage, belting this anthem about mascara pouring down a woman’s face when she cries, is a sight to behold.

That stellar voice was released yet again on the feisty Wild Woman, and Leave Me Lonely, about ‘passion’ and ‘wanting someone even more when they’re not there’.

There were more muted moments too, such as the soulful Love and Fear, inspired by a preacher’s speech at a meal held by U2, and The Girl I Used to Be.

For this ballad about her childhood, May was left on stage with just one guitarist as she reminisced about days full of ‘simple things’ when she ‘ran free’.

Jonny Got a Boom Boom and the encore got everyone on their feet at the end of a superb night.

The music industry needs more spirited, earthy tunes like this. Keep going, Imelda, you rock!