Little Boots - Hands (679/Atlantic)

There's always pressure on those bands or singers who fill the end of year tip lists to do well over the next 12 months, and a lot of the time the names are never seen again. But for every Morning Runner there's a Mika, and it sounds like Little Boots will fall into the latter category not the former.

Little Boots is 24-year-old Victoria Hesketh from Blackpool, who you may remember performing on Jools Holland, in one of the highlights of the last series. But if your expectations are based solely on that, prepare for a surprise. Don't expect piano based ballads, be ready for some thumping dancepop from 'Hands'.

Forthcoming single 'New in Town' lets you know straight away what to expect and if that jerked you into motion, then 'Earthquake' shakes you up completely. Just staying the right side of Europop, it has Little Boots sounding like a higher-pitched Madonna and not for the last time on the album.

It's not until midway through that the real rewards can be found. Track five is 'Remedy', which will lend itself nicely to club remixes, as Little Boots demands you to "move while you're watching me, dance with the enemy". There are enough "oh-ohs" to make this a cracking live track too. Better still is 'Meddle', the track she performed on Later. Here everything except the kitchen sink is thrown in as drum beats and fizzing keyboards underpin the verse, before a killer chorus.

Lyrically there's not too many profundities, but 'Ghosts' wonderfully describes a struggling relationship, where Little Boots asks: "Do you even know I'm here" before proclaiming: "I see right through you". It's a clever song with off beats that add to the slightly eerie feel. After the X and Y references of 'Mathematics', you're hit with 'Symmetry'. It features Human League's Phil Oakey, and perhaps that's a hint to a few of the musical references here.

Cleverly, it's not until almost the end that the absolute killer track is revealed. 'Hearts Collide' nods to Kylie. It's sexy and has her voice in fine form. The ever annoying hidden track is hidden because there's no dance groove, and instead a bare piano and her slightly thin and harsh voice. It's on hearing this that you understand why she's been overwhelmed with production everywhere else on the album.

Rating: 3.5/5

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Little Boots' official site
http://www.littlebootsmusic.co.uk

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Little Boots on MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/littlebootsmusic

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Published: 02/05/2009 at 01:26
Author: David Spencer
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