IT'S NOT all that hard to fathom the phenomenal success and longevity of Tracy Chapman. Her winning combination of simple, folk-based melodies, wise, knowing vocals and a quietly spoken dignity, has made her the most popular singer-songwriter of the last decade.

Telling Stories, her fifth album to date, continues in much the same vein as her previous studio outings, with few surprises either song-wise or in the production/arrangement approach adopted. Produced by Chapman with David Kershenbaum, who also worked on her first two records, it's the same heady mix of mild protest songs and rallying calls for freedom and emotional independence, over a mainly acoustic, rock-lite backdrop.

The title track and first single is a typically jangly, mid-paced Chapman vehicle, not unlike her best known song 'Fast Car'. A heavier drum sound and a more powerfully realised chorus marks out the love song 'Less Than Strangers', while feed-back permeates the polemical 'Speak The Word'.

If she has a fault, it's in constantly revisiting earlier themes and repeating them endlessly. Occasionally you wish she would unburden herself from all that political and emotional posturing and break into a smile. On 'Paper and Ink', for example, she warbles "Money's only paper and ink, we'll destroy ourselves if we can't agree", with a casualness only someone with lots of it could get away with.

The sheer melodic breadth and lyrical consistency of Chapman's debut has cast a shadow over much of her subsequent output and the lack of a truly memorable song here is apparent. That said, Chapman's melodies have a way of getting under your skin and in that respect, the final pair of tracks stand out: 'The Only One' is a simple country folk tune with Emmylou Harris lending subtle backing vocals while 'First Try', with its sparse, baroque arrangement and heavily reverbed vocals makes for a refreshing departure from the sameness of much of Telling Stories.