Pixie Lott has cited the classic Motown sound as a big influence on her self-titled third album and the 23-year-old Brit succeeds in unleashing her inner diva throughout these highly polished R&B-tinged pop standards, complete with backing vocals that could have been lifted from the golden era of soul music itself.
The Detroit influence is particularly evident on the slower tracks, like the prime torch song, ‘Ain’t Got You’, the overwrought ‘Leaving You’ and the tear-jerking, smartphone-waving ‘Break Up Song’. Heavy on the emotions and soaring backing vocals, it swings, it shimmies – and it’s bloody impressive, as Lott eulogises “the way we fought, the way we kissed, the heat inside the tenderness.”
Lead single ‘Nasty’ is a big, brash slice of funky R&B-inflected pop, with a flavour of Black Machine’s ‘How Gee’, a smidgeon of Nellee’s ‘Hot In Here’ and a big helping of diva. Originally recorded by Christina Aguilera and Cee-Lo Greene for the 2010 film Burlesque, it was dropped from the soundtrack when getting clearance for the samples proved too difficult. Good news for Pixie: she gets to make it her own with a huge vocal performance that could have the aforementioned Aguilera looking over her shoulder.
Almost as impressive is the catchy pop of ‘Champion’, like Madonna’s ‘Borderline’, tarted up for a new generation, while ‘Kill A Man’ is a big, bold and brassy statement of girl power, 21st century style. ‘Heart Cry’ is dancefloor-friendly R&B, ‘Ocean’ is an anthemic behemoth of a song, but the so-so ‘Lay Me Down’ is catchy but forgettable pop trash.
It may be difficult to match the masters she’s emulating, this isn’t a bad effort at all, as Pixie makes a play for the big leagues.
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