Wistful and sensitive observations regarding everyday life and love abound on this record. There are no grinding dance routines, no speedily packaged wafer-thin songs. STEPHANIE KIRKHAM may be the perfect anti-pop idol.
Admittedly this doesn't mean that Kirkham is necessarily going to deal with the grime of mundane reality. The jangly upbeat acoustic pop is British pop in the same way that 'Notting Hill' is a British film. "That Girl" is Sunday night TV Costume Drama, the Queen Mum, dreaming spires and, yes,it's Radio2 playlisted.
After the usual barrage of American R&B disco divas and home-grown vocoder fodder that passes for pop here,the folk-tinged girlish vocals take a little getting used to but they are soft, sweet and fresh. Kirkham's delivery of "Stay Here Close To Me" feels like sitting in a meadow blowing dandelion clocks on the last day of summer.
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Despite Kirkham's pro-team backing (the record was produced by Ian Stanley and mixed by Danton Supple, fresh from Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood to the Head")I fear it's going to take a savvy selection of singles or, perhaps, a world class rapper 'borrowing' a chorus to push this into the top 10 in the current climate. All the same "When You Were Here"and "Somebody Else's Girl" flirt with Dido country, though if anything, they're better than that. Similarly "Heavy Boots" proves Kirkham has a almost Beatle-esque ear for a tune. It's the
last song, the luscious "Blank White Sheet" which is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow however.
Definitely worth a listen.
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