In a year when disco is back on the menu, big things are expected of south London synth-pop pixie Elly Jackson aka La Roux. Having set up residency in the Top 10 with single In For The Kill, she came to a sold-out Koko last night as headliner of the NME Radar Tour.

Her foot-high quiff means she already has one of pop’s most distinctive silhouettes but has La Roux got the hits, as well as the hair, to stand out from the crowd?

If her nine-song set is anything to go by then we may be looking at 2009’s disco queen supreme.

After Magistrates and Heartbreak had impressed with Eighties‑indebted sets of their own, it was La Roux’s chance to turn the dial back to the decade of synthesizers and Spandau. Dressed in a gold jacket, red hair caped in glitter, she began her 35‑minute show with the jolty electro‑pop of Quicksand.

Backed by two keyboardists who stood motionless on either side of the stage, La Roux had a little too much stage to herself. “It feels like everyone’s looking at me,” she said in an uncharacteristically self‑conscious moment.

It’s a feeling she’ll have to get used to but a bigger, livelier band would have helped alleviate some of the last night’s pressure.

It will also be easier when La Roux releases her debut next month and we’re familiar with the tunes. As If By Magic — complete with catchy chorus and obligatory “ooh-ooh-ooh” section — sounded like a future favourite, as did the pounding electro of Fascination. Better still was I’m Not Your Toy, where La Roux sang its feisty, feminist message over bleeping synths and syncopated beats.

Then came the hits. In For The Kill received the kind of reaction to suggest it may stay in the Top 10 for a few weeks yet, while the euphoric new single Bulletproof will surely be headed in the same direction.

Much more than hair today and gone tomorrow.