Rachel Stevens — Come And Get It

It's quite a sad reflection on the music industry today that this album is already been written off as a commercial failure, and it isn't even out until the 17th. Now, it's a fine enough album, with a few great tracks, some ones that are quite good, and a few that are, well, a trifle dull. The problem is that it all sounds so anonymous; by the time the CD finishes, you get the feeling that pretty much any pop starlet could have been responsible for the past hour (with the exception of Some Girls, which Polydor have added to this album seemingly in a fit of desperation). I'm not one who insists that pop has to be about something, or have a message, but I would like to feel that the singer brings something to the project, as opposed to being just a simple cog in the producer's machine. People say that Stevens is a return to the sophisticated "New Pop" of the 1980s, but I think music critics have put too much emphasis on the role of the producer in that era. Sure, without Trevor Horn, Relax would be forgettable, but it's a Frankie Goes To Hollywood song, unmistakably. There's nothing here that suggests Ms. Stevens is capable of doing the same.

(Part of the commercial failure of this album, though, has to be placed at the foot of Polydor and 19 Entertainment, who released two of the weakest tracks from the album as singles. Plus, Negotiate With Love came out at the end of March, meaning that it's been over six months since the first single and the album's release, which seems awfully silly. A preferred release strategy, if I might be so bold, would have been to release I Said Never Again as the first single back in April, followed six weeks later with the Cure-sampling It's All About Me (I'm sure some interest could have been made out of that, even if pop sampling isn't all that notable these days). Followthat with the album a week or so later, and then release two more singles at six weeks intervals (probably the Eighth Wonder-aping Funny How and I Will Be There). Then, in October, cynically re-issue the album with a DVD containing the videos for all four singles (and Some Girls). Oh, and hire Michel Gondry to make one of them)

Also, I feel vindicated in my earlier Mud comments after finding out that Rob Davis co-wrote I Said Never Again…

Girls Aloud — Biology

Meanwhile, back at Camp Xenomania, they've come up with a cunning strategy: a detenté, if you will of the two main movements of British music in the 1990s. Which is to say that they've taken a Britpop song via The Kinks and ELO's Mr. Blue Sky, and stapled it to the Spice Girls' Spice Up Your Life. It really is better than it sounds, trust me, even if only the start seems to stick in the memory on the first ten listens.