Cupid Shoot Me

Amy Winehouse’s best friend – or so the tabloids tell us – returns with a slick collection of bubble gum r’n b. Things start inauspiciously, with a do-wop title track positively slathered in Hallmark goo. But Nicole’s soon finding her way as, working with Britney Spears/ Nelly Furtado producer Mark Kelly, she tip-toes through morphing sounds-cape of soul-pop, girl group froth and hair-dryer balladry. Nicole is blessed with a decent set of pipes but struggles to put her stamp on their material: even when she cuts loose, as on mid-set show stopper ‘Standing Tears Apart’, the suspicion that she’s merely following in the slipstream of her famous chum is never far away.