It’s Bank Holiday Monday. He’s in London. And it’s raining. Despite these adverse conditions Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed is in chipper form as he strolls from Cottons Caribbean eatery towards The Enterprise pub. Upstairs at this 120-capacity Camden venue, Reed is due to play the first of two showcases in two days intended to introduce him to assorted movers and shakers (and indeed the odd shuffler and wobbler) as he prepares for the launch of his second album, Roll With You, set for release on June 23.

Tonight, Reed takes to the stage without his eight-piece band, the True Loves, and reinterprets key tracks from his new album in a stripped down manner. Opener Stake Your Claim sees him fumbling his way through the chords on a guitar he’s borrowed from his friend Nick Lowe, but it doesn’t take long for Reed to find his mark in a set that highlights once again just how powerful his voice is.

In the past comparisons have been made between Reed and soul heavyweights such as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, but tonight the 24 year-old Bostonian is his own man, using his Mississippi apprenticeship to inform tracks such as Am I Wasting My Time, Walking And Talking (the title track of his debut album) and It’s Easier with a rare fire and passion.