Alma

Have U Seen Her?

RCA/Sony, ★★★★★

Finnish singer, Alma has a bit of a punk attitude to go with her (currently) green hair. The 24-year-old lets fly with F-bombs throughout her debut, and the opening title track seems as much a two-fingered salute as a declaration of intent. But then the album settles into a succession of trip hop flavoured electronic arrangements.

The slow, classy but no less explicit LA

Money is the highpoint and nods to A Forest by punk/goth icons The Cure in its outro. Bad News Baby finds her protesting a little too much about what a wrong ‘un she is while, ironically, Worst Behaviour is more mannered in every sense. My Girl finds her hooking up with the wrong type of girl and on Mama she quite plaintively asks her mother to always forgive her transgressions.

In more ways than one, Alma asks a lot, I’m not yet fully convinced that she’s worth it.

Danny McElhinney