Well, the music media likes the sight and sound of Helen J. Hicks but I’m not sure. After listening to this lady’s debut album, I can’t work out what she is trying to achieve…

Opener, All My Days, opens on a distinctly jazzy note before turning into mainstream country pop (complete with American vocal lilt), and the confusion starts… Vocally Hicks has a pretty strong voice (as is demonstrated here), and while it is clarity personified lacks any real distinction. The next track, Clear, is a little more interesting and consistent. It’s country pop with an enormous melody, rampant choruses and a more interesting vocal that exudes expression. This could fly on Billboard. Be Myself is the lady’s showcase Internet single and I only wish she kept with her lyrics, “I wanna be myself today…” It’s another slice of country pop, cute but unsubstantial with lyrics that fail to light my fire. Strings and piano welcome in I Love You More, yet another country pop song that makes me wonder whether this album was created for the USA market. This love ballad is pretty enough but I can find no trace of sincerity or emotion in it. Pounding piano notes introduce the next track, Not Going Away, an upbeat love song with another dire set of lyrics. Then, out of the blue, comes Leafing, an okay poem about nature set to fleeting piano notes and spoken with the most correct English accent. With the next song, I Miss You, the American lilt disappears completely and continues in this mode for most of the rest of the album. Again it’s a pleasant enough song but lacks any conviction. The album offers some lovely production and instrumental touches but overall it sounds like a fashion model deciding to give the pop market a nudge. Things get a little more interesting with the gentle folk vibe of Broken with its sparser acoustic sound, but it’s not enough to rescue a confusing and very average album.

3/5