Miss Paula Flynn

By not cashing in with a collection of covers in the wake of the chart-topping success of her version of Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’, Miss P has set out her stall as an artist paying serious allegiance to her own muse. ‘Magic’ is a jaunty opener, that unmistakable voice coasting atop a light rocking backing with Linley Hamilton’s stirring trumpet adding flavour. There’s a delicious country tinge to ‘Wallpaper’s Peeling’ and ‘Angels In The Dark’. ‘Killed A Bird’ is arguably the saddest Christmas song ever, and there’s an unsettling beauty to ‘Sorry’ and a forlorn agony to ‘Poor Me’. However, the uptempo ‘Five A Day’ is trivial filler, while ‘Bedful Of Stars’ is a slow ballad boosted by a simple cello line.
Lyrically, Flynn avoids topical issues for such universal subjects as the trauma of losing a handbag and having a row on holidays. The production generally eschews vocal harmonies, a missed opportunity to add extra flavouring. But Marc Aubele’s keyboards bring real bite to an album which, with sleeve notes that pursue a foody theme, should be part of everyone’s healthy musical diet.