albums and tracks

Editor's rating

A calendar year is a lifetime in pop, so when Lady Sovereign broke down in front of a New York crowd in 2007, we suspected the worst. Addressing the audience at Studio B, the London MC explained that she hated America, was suffering from depression and was on the verge of becoming homeless.

Two years later - and with a stellar second album in the bag - Louise Harman is back, minus the wince-inducing Croydon facelift side ponytail and with a more mature, understandably darker lyrical impetus.

With an abundant use of The Cure's 'Close To Me' - raising the question, "at which point does a sample become a cover?" - 'So Human' sees Sovereign applying her no-nonsense straight-talking wit to one of British pop's most prized possessions. The result is a perky, poppy urban track that just about sidesteps novelty territory and is all the better for it. Welcome home m'Lady.

Picture: PA Photos