“I don’t want you to think I’m a depressive”’ said Nerina Pallot during Sunday’s set at The Duchess. It was one of a number of remarks, made half with her tongue in cheek, that showed Pallot as an unusually gifted raconteur.

The Jersey songwriter punctuated songs with idiosyncratic comments, remarking on her drummer’s illness, a night in Germany with a sausage and beer, and how tuning a guitar can sound “quite unpleasant, like foxes mating”.

Pallot has more talent than is decent for one individual.

A gifted singer, pianist and songwriter, she’s from the same musical territory as Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Kate Bush, with a strong streak of independence and perfectionism. Her comments may have been witty, but this girl wanted to get things right, and it showed off in a well-judged and executed set. Songs from her new record, The Graduate, were played alongside tunes from her superb Fires album, including the anthemic Everybody’s Gone To War.

Other songs from this 2006 release proved to be the stand-outs, especially the dramatic Idaho (given extra power by the rhythm section) and the passionate Damascus, described by Pallot as a reflection on a “disastrous love affair”.

A closing sequence of Elton John covers included Benny And the Jets and a soulful reading of Your Song. Pallot seemed genuinely grateful that an audience had turned out in York to see her eight years after her last visit here, but this was probably one of the best gigs of the year in the city.