Joss Stone: Mind Body & Soul

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

She gave herself her own hard act to follow with her big-selling Soul Sessions album from early this year, a set of vintage soul covers including a purring take on the White Stripes' Fell in Love with a Girl/Boy, which announced the British teenager had a soul voice from another age.

Now, the seemingly hasty follow-up has her on a set of originals, which inevitably comes without the same spark of her debut. It suffers from being a bit long, too mid-to-slow tempo in its songs and barely strays in its sound from the 70s soul-funk blueprint of its predecessor.

That Stone is credited with co-writes on 12 of the 14 tracks isn't the problem - it's a solid set including a few songs that would improve the albums of many a contemporary older soul diva.

It's just that it smoulders too long and doesn't catch fire nearly enough.

Still, Stone makes a fine soul-Lolita throughout, especially on opener Right to be Wrong (a mission statement of sorts where she says she's "going to sing my own song" and amusingly "I'm not made of stone").

Likewise, it fires on the Stevie Wonder-inspired funk-rock of You Had Me, the reggae swerve of Less is More, and Killing Time (a simple but effective number co-written by Portishead's Beth Gibbons).

It does make some nods towards the contemporary on Young at Heart and on Understand, where the iPod gets some lyrical product placement.

It might lack the edge to make it something special, but it's still the second best soul album you're likely to hear from a 17-year-old this year.

Label: Virgin