From the sound of her voice and songs you’d think that Critchley hails from America’s Mid-West, and not from her hometown of Liverpool. She has a good voice and, as the PR material keeps telling me, she looks great. But the big test is the quality of the songs because it really doesn’t matter how good, or pretty, if the songs don’t cut it. So how does Critchley fare? Well the news isn’t bad and it isn’t great. Opening song ‘Today’s Another Day’ is very standard country pop material but things improve with the next song, ‘What Do We Do’, with its tidy lyrics, expressive vocal and workmanlike instrumental arrangement. The song is about a couple breaking up and the realisation that things aren’t the way they used to be. It’s an epic pop ballad that should be selected as the lady’s first single but probably won’t be (too sad, too downbeat…). ‘Shoulder To Lean On’ goes down the R&B route but fails to light my fire. ‘I’ll Be OK’ tacks back to emotional vibe in a contemplative, slow-paced song about lovers parting. It runs on a tank-full of melody and then ups the anti with sweeping string arrangements that add something worthwhile to the song’s dramatic message. ‘Sometimes I’ is the worst song in the album and I bet that it’s the one that is released as a single. ‘Tell Me’ is another R&B love song with passable lyrics and melody, with Critchley letting fly with her vocal to great effect.

There seems to be a trend setting in here for UK female artists to adopt a Leann Rimes route to capturing their audiences, maybe after the worldwide success of the Plant and Krauss album. Critchley has a decent voice and there are some good songs here along with some totally forgettable ones. Fans of this type of music will lap it up, while I still need to be convinced that we have a special talent to shout about.

3.5/5