“We’re Noah and the Whale,” yawned frontman Charlie Fink, and his sleepy introduction did not suggest a man who relishes live performance. But he did a fine job of transferring their impossibly lovelorn second album, The First Days of Spring, to the stage.

The Twickenham band, fired up from the opening older favourite Give a Little Love, were all the more impressive considering their original instruments had been stolen a few days earlier in Manchester. Their folk-flavoured music also had to compete with some irksome audience chatter, which Fink handled with reasonably good humour.

“I know that often during the quieter songs, the temptation is to discuss how much you’re enjoying the concert,” he said, suggesting the alternative was to “enjoy the concert while it happens and discuss it afterwards”.

In response, the audience’s exaggerated shushing still couldn’t silence the conversation. But ultimately it couldn’t detract from the power of epic, spacious tunes such as Blue Skies, Stranger and the album title track.

Fink’s faraway look throughout the set suited these sad songs, which chronicle his break-up with the singer Laura Marling. However, there was musical versatility amid the downbeat lyrics: jagged guitar solos, jaunty violins and cosmic rock wig-outs.

Their early hit 5 Years Time prompted a pleasing singalong during the encore, but sounded almost childish after the new tunes. Even those who spent the evening gabbing at the bar must have worked out that Noah and the Whale have made a huge creative leap forward.