RIP Danielle Moore: Crazy P’s beloved figurehead who personified the power of dancing

Over the past few years, Danielle’s anger and frustration at what was happening in the world had become much more pronounced, particularly post-Brexit. Her personal account on Instagram became a platform for anguished outrage at how the UK was being governed, against racism, and, more recently, the genocide in Gaza, something that was expressed most vividly in her lyrics which had become increasingly political, as on ‘We Will Fuck You Up’ (the title says it all) or ‘The Witness’: “Fuck this shit / The robots are in power Come give another hour,” she sings expressively.

“You’re not gonna change it in your lifetime,” she said. “But it’s really about spreading love from a small place.”

This little story she told me about her early days at the Haçienda, perfectly sums up her sense of fun and love of dancing. “One night, I felt the urge to dance downstairs and no-one else was dancing apart from me and this girl,” she said. “We kept looking at each other and glancing and I was like, ‘Yeah!’ and really going for it with fancy footwork and stuff. After about half an hour, I went to shake hands with her. It was a full-length mirror.”

In our last recorded conversation a couple of months ago, she was already looking to the future. “There’s a lot more to come,” she told me, “and I love that. I love that I’ve not tapped into a lot of stuff. I love the fact that I’m growing in confidence.” The tragedy is we’ll never see the product of that growing confidence.

When her death was announced on Monday morning, the outpouring of love was universal, because anyone who had ever known or even fleetingly met Danielle all had the same experience. “She gave us so much and we love her so much,” said her bandmates. “One of the most beautiful souls has left us,” wrote Róisín Murphy, who Crazy P recently supported. “One of the best in music, an amazing person and an amazing singer, performer and songwriter. She touched everybody she met with light and love.” The feelings expressed by all her met her said the same.

Danielle Moore was an unforgettable woman, generous, empathetic, engaged, often hilarious and always friendly. The world she’s left behind seems smaller and less kind without her in it.

Bill Brewster is a DJ and writer, follow him on Twitter