You might expect a gig by a Welsh folk singer and harpist to be a genteel, musically sparse affair. On Wednesday night, the excellent Georgia Ruth Williams blew any such expectations away with a sophisticated, diverse and often surprisingly loud set.

Accompanied by brothers Iwan, Aled and Dafydd Hughes on guitar, bass and drums respectively, Williams – a former Brighton resident – began with Mapping. Iwan’s gently howling electric guitar set an eerie scene for her visceral lyrics (“there’s highways on my shoulders/where your fingers dug them in”), before the rhythm section – and her busy harp playing – provided a pulsing outro.

Williams’ quirky, dark sense of humour was to the fore as she introduced songs. The inclusion of traditional American song Old Blue – about an ill-fated dog – was an act of rebellion against her mother, she explained, while a “happy birthday”

to an audience member turned quickly into a discussion about mortality.

She switched capably to a reed organ for a Welsh sea shanty, and acoustic guitar for the finale – a cover of Richard and Linda Thompson’s Beat The Retreat. But it was at the harp where Williams was most comfortable; adding inventive runs and fills to In Luna, and providing a soaring conclusion to the epic Winter.