albums and tracks

Editor's rating

With a voice that falls somewhere between the throaty stylings of Sia and the nasal wailing of Duffy, Paloma Faith doesn't initially seem to be bringing anything dazzlingly new to the female pop songstress party.

But, in a genre where image is all, the vampy former burlesque dancer, magician's assistant and naughty knickers saleswoman has something the others would kill for - honest-to-goodness quirkiness, including an MA in something called Time Based Arts. Musically, however, she's not quite as off-the-wall as she and her record company seem to think - 'Stone Cold Sober' is yet another slice of '60s soul-nfluenced pop, evoking the spirit of Winehouse's Back To Black in its trumpet-tooting flourish.

Nonetheless, there are hints of real intrigue buried in there, along with the possibility of a proper Brit pop queen in the making.