On first acquaintance, this young Limerick-born chanteuse comes across as yet another jazz-inspired vocal stylist of the kind that the world doesn’t really need many more of. But on closer inspection it soon becomes clear that Daly (whose breakthrough came when appearing in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage musical, The Beautiful Game) is several notches above the possse. Her delivery on the Peggy Lee classic, ‘Fever’ is assured way beyond her years (she barely looks 20 on the cover of this major label debut). Likewise with the Gershwin favourite, ‘The Man That Got Away’, which she sings with the kind of confidence that made Barbara Streisand a star. This is a clearly a big-budget affair with no expense spared in the session department (former Pretenders/McCartney sidekick Robbie McIntosh is just one of the contributors).
While the more pop-oriented ‘All I Want’ (which veers close to Corrs territory) and the bonus track ‘Even If It Breaks My Heart’ demonstrate clear chart potential, the slow burning ballads make up way too much of the 14 tracks here. The title track and others like ‘When The Cedars Fell’ and are just too schmaltzy for my liking. There’s just no getting away from the fact that this is MOR – albeit classy MOR and will appeal to the kind of audience that made Katie Melua a star.