Corinne Bailey Rae - 'Corinne Bailey Rae'

People tell stories. They say that Paul's dead. That Thom Yorke's actually a happy family man. That Stevie Wonder's not really blind, just having a laugh. And the latest fib to come my way is that there's something special to Leeds' Corinne Bailey Rae, some spark that makes her neo-soul neo-awesome. There isn't. This isn't as spicy as Ro"s"n Murphy's 'Ruby Blue', not even as touching as Norah Jones' 'Come Away With Me'. It bumps, a little. It swings, a little. Put Your Records On has a great hook, horns that pump the chorus big, but it's not enough to propel me through another eight tracks of lifeless cooing. Especially when one's a song about sunshine and another's about butterflies. The R&B anticlimax of the season. [Sean Michaels]