A few years ago the idea of Cat Power headlining Brighton’s most prestigious arts festival would have been inconceivable.

The Atlantan singer-songwriter has always been a critical favourite but her live shows were known for being shambolic as she battled depression and alcoholism.

So by making her the biggest-name musician at Brighton Festival, curator Hofesh Shechter has taken a gamble, one which at least partly paid off. The solo set featured a lone and exposed Cat Power on guitar and piano. She largely held her own with material from lauded comeback album Sun.

Her voice is by far her strongest suit, carrying a rare soulfulness and seductive quality. 2006 single The Greatest distils her poignancy best with its “I could have been a contender” regret.

But Chan Marshall’s ambivalent attitude towards live performance has not been totally vanquished and she was not always comfortable on stage.

She forgot lines here and there, rescuing it with a sung interjection, “That’s not very professional”, and was forgiven.

But there was a sloppy, wandering attitude at times, as she fluffed piano lines and stopped mid-song, hampering a performance from Marshall, who appears to have not quite left past demons behind.