Imelda May

Classy balladeer with rock aspirations offers muddled stylistic mix.

Two albums after abandoning her rockabilly roots, Imelda May continues to attempt to straddle the line between ’60s showstoppers and fuzzy rock. The title track opener is great and assured in a Julie London visits Twin Peaks style, while the slow-burning and lavishly orchestrated Breathe has Bond theme dimensions. But May is less successful on the rockers – not so much through lack of ‘oomph’ or authenticity, but because the songs aren’t great. The woke gonk-hammering in Made To Love is clunky (“I’m gay, I’m straight, I’m bi, I’m trans”), while Ronnie Wood’s guitar chops can’t save Just One Kiss, in which a duetting Noel Gallagher comes over as uncharacteristically lascivious. Way more subtle, convincing, and apparently deeply felt are the tumbling country soul of Different Kinds Of Love and the lovely Dusty In Memphis vibes of Diamonds.