Album title:
The Deep Blue
Artist:
Charlotte Hatherley
Label:
Little Sister
Like a phoenix from the ashes, Charlotte Hatherley's debut LP, Grey Will Fade, glided effortlessly into the indie stratosphere. Full of glittering hooks, it had Tim Wheeler's two-bit-punk-schlock offerings cowering in shame. Now she's back with her new record, The Deep Blue, and it seems this songbird is determined to flee her pop-princess nest – only she's forgotten where she wants to go. Sounding aimless and cluttered, the chugging guitars have been replaced by swelling symphonies and her punchy vocal ditched for a wishy-washy swoon. Pithy tracks like Be Thankful and Dawn Treader should soar into the gracious realms of Isobel Campbell territory but lack any melodic charm. The jezebel 70s prang of I Want You To Know will still have dancefloors shaking to its polka-dotted pizazz yet little else here matches such carefree ambition. She may have taken flight, but Charlotte Hatherly's going to have trouble winging it this time. [Billy Hamilton]