Maria McKee - Late December

Maria McKee was in Lone Justice, a fearsome country rock outfit in the days before Americana was hip. This album suggests that she is a talent looking for direction. After failing to reinvent herself as a folky singer-songwriter, Late December sees McKee attempting to cover all musical bases. Every song is functional but mediocre. The title track is generic soul, tastefully arranged but lacking personality; No Other Way to Love You is an unconvincing canter while revisiting her hit (made famous by Fergal Sharkey) A Good Heart feels desperate. By the trite platitudes of Too Many Heroes, she is reduced to imitating her roots. Destine is a poor copy of last summer's vaudeville melodrama; Scene of the Affair is punk imagined as opera. She demonstrates that her voice is versatile and controlled - yet fails to invest meaning into the insipid material. She might be transforming into a diva, but this is far too tame. [Gareth K Vile]