SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

FICKLE FRIENDS – YOU ARE SOMEONE ELSE ★★★★★ FICKLE Friends’ debut is nostalgic for the past, for the 1980s, and it pays homage to genre-defining songs from the likes of Whitney, Tiffany, Shannon and other major power-pop players of the decade.

The tracks combine this with more current dance and trance sounds, heard in Glue and Bite, but overall this knows exactly where it belongs.

The most striking elements are the big, singalong choruses, which are executed brilliantly.

There are darker parts to this colourful offering – the songs are often driven by a heavy bass, and at times they seem to be moving a little bit too quick, like an experimental, musical drug. It keeps you on your toes, and is an excellent, classic pop album.

KIM WILDE – HERE COME THE ALIENS ★★★★★ KIM Wilde once warned you should Never Trust A Stranger; here is another public service announcement. The UK’s green-fingered queen of 1980s new wave pop has cultivated an obsession with little green men.

“They’re out there in the stars, maybe they come from Mars,” she sings on 1969, the tacit title track to Here Come The Aliens. Pop Don’t Stop pays homage to Buggles classic Video Killed The Radio Star with its piano-led intro before bursting away on an interplanetary path.

Wilde has certainly seen some extraordinary things. The real revelation here is that her 14th studio album might be the Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist’s finest non-horticultural work in decades.

ALEXANDRA BURKE – THE TRUTH IS ★★★★★

AFTER a six-year wait, Alexandra Burke has grown as an artist and as a woman, particularly in the past year – what with her successful Strictly stint and the death of her mother – and is set on making her mark in music again.

However, for all that life experience and the absorption of a more musical theatre-friendly style – thanks to her years treading the boards in the West End – somehow this new effort doesn’t feel like she’s quite giving her best... yet.

The power ballads are pleasant, if not a bit lacking in true heart, while other tracks have the essence of something great but fall short of brilliance.

A highlight is her duet with Ronan Keating, Say We’ll Meet Again.