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Rating: * * * * *
Looking up, wide-eyed, from under a sleek, swept-back fringe, Sharleen Spiteri looks more like Angelina Jolie than the former frontwoman of Texas. Remember? The shaggy-haired Glaswegian who just wanted a friend.
Nearly 20 years on, Spiteri is back with her first solo outing, indulging her passion for 60s soul while venting some failed relationship angst along the way. Indeed, the foot-stomping rhythm of I'm Going to Haunt You rivals Nancy Sinatra's classic as the greatest post-break-up anthem.
The modern Motown thing may feel a bit overdone these days but Spiteri pulls it off with an edge and authenticity that leaves Duffy looking like a low-rent Dusty impersonator. As Spiteri's sultry voice joins the sweeping strings and big brass of It Was You, you can't help but smile as she coos through the swinging chorus. All The Times I Cried - the album's first single - ups the 60s stakes again, with a sweet and soft piano melody, before a richly satisfying brass-backed refrain. From there, the good times just keep coming as Spiteri purrs out one divine track after another.
Produced by the man behind Duffy's Rockferry and Black Kids' Partie Traumatic, Melody secures Bernard Butler's place as one of the brightest producing talents on the scene, but Spiteri's palpable charm and candour are what make this record sing.
Joanna Hunkin
