Mayra Andrade, the Cuban-born Cape Verdean singer, has built up an impressive following since the release of her first album, Navega, in 2006. Andrade's languid and sad-edged songs led to inevitable comparisons with her country's greatest singer, the late Cesária Évora, but now that she is in her late 20s, she has other ideas. She lives in Paris, has worked with Brazilian musicians and wants to create a style based on all her musical influences. Her new album, Lovely Difficult, has songs in four languages, and her two sold-out shows at Ronnie Scott's acted as a preview for the new material.

She came on stage looking like a tropical diva, but with an impressively quirky sense of humour, and started by playing safe, with an exquisite, drifting love song in Cape Verdean creole, followed by a gently upbeat tribute to one of the islands and its musicians, Ilha de Santiago. Then came the surprises. Her English-language cover versions included a brooding and thoughtful treatment of the Krystle Warren song Build It Up, helped by pounding and wailing backing from her excellent band, while the French songs included the moody and gently charming Le Jour se Lève. There were also Andrade's own new pop songs, including the cheerfully upbeat We Used to Call It Love and the more forgettable singalong Rosa, with an excursion into jazz and scat at the end of Téra Lonji.

It was an entertaining set, but she would be wise not to forget that Cape Verde makes her special. The two best songs of the night were her easy, relaxed treatment of Tunuka, from her debut album, and the finale, a delicate, unaccompanied treatment of a morna, the style popularised by Cesária Évora.

• Did you catch this gig – or any other recently? Tell us about it using #Iwasthere