Yeongene - Bonnie Gene

Two worlds collide on this first European release from South Korean chanteuse Yeongene. So there's the far eastern element, and there's a flavour of Glaswegian indie-pop in the form of accompli BMX Bandits and members of Teenage Fanclub, The Vaselines and Belle & Sebastian. Actually, better make that three worlds, because the first of two 'chapters', a Burt Bacharach songbook, locates itself in prelapsarian 60s America, with honey-coated renditions of standards like I'll Never Fall in Love Again and obscurities like Me Japanese Boy. Part two consists of original songs written for Yeongene by BMX Bandits' Duglas T Stewart, although it isn't such a departure from what's gone before. Songs like Ally Ally Oxen Free, all chiming piano, flute and dreamy harmonies, could quite easily pass for a forgotten Bacharach number. While Yeongene's childlike croon can lose some of its charm after a while, the quality of the songwriting, both old and new, ensures that it stays just on the right side of saccharine. [Nick Mitchell]