Album Review: KT Tunstall, Turned A Light On

She started out as the quirky Brit folk/pop artist with talent to burn both as a singer-songwriter and highly accomplished guitar player. Ten years on from her breakthrough debut Eye To The Telescope and its brace of hit singles, KT Tunstall hasn’t lost her ear for a bouncy tune and a catchy melody.

Perhaps her recent move to Venice Beach in California has something to do with it, but Kin oozes with breezy, West Coast melodies and warm summer vibes. ‘Hard Girls’ channels the jangly LA power-pop smarts of The Bangles, while the lengthily-titled ‘It Took Me So Long To Get Here But Here I Am’ is even more sun-kissed, with layered harmonies, a gently chugging guitar rhythm and a memorable chorus.

‘Maybe It’s A Good Thing’ is more in keeping with her earlier style – a meaty acoustic rocker with hooks aplenty, while elsewhere, the harmonies are even sweeter on the acoustic ballad, ‘Turned A Light On’ – an irresistible, Fleetwood Mac-style tune.

‘On My Star’ is pastoral and melancholic, while ‘Two Way’ features James Bay taking turns with Tunstall on the verses: their voices are ideally matched. The album concludes with ‘Love Is An Ocean’, yet another dreamily blissful tune.

The quality never sags throughout and the overall flavour of Kin is one of contentment and sheer joy – the effect on the listener is certainly infectious.