Travelling Like The Light [CD]

VV Brown bears all the hallmarks of your standard one hit wonder. The frenzied hysteria of "Crying Blood"--essentially a thoroughly modern makeover for "Monster Mash"--made an arresting impression at impact, sirens blazing in a heavy handed raid on the '50s. As singles go, it’s probably one of 2009’s best and set an unbearably high benchmark for the album. The surprise then is how watertight the remaining 11 tracks on Travelling Like The Light are. There’s the hint of a doo-wop revival (see also "Leave!" and "L.O.V.E") and an R&B underlay, though it doesn’t necessarily follow that it’s got much soul to speak of; she’s no threat to the likes of Amy Winehouse or Adele, or even Lily Allen, for instance. That matters not though as this album’s intentions are direct and remain fiercely on target. "Quick Fix" (which is about right) opens the album and ushers you to the dance floor in much the same way the B52s' classic "Love Shack" still does, by essentially stealing its drums. But it’s also much more up to date than that and "Crying Blood" suggest. The strummed sweetness of "Shark In The Water" and rigorous strike-a-pose pop of "Game On" compete on an even high-production playing field with the likes of Katy Perry and Pink and ensure we’ll have to count to two, if not much higher, before the year's out. --James Berry

The debut album from VV Brown comes with the kind of albatross-round-the-neck pressure normally attached to a high-expectation sophomore effort. Already the subject of relentless tutting and tweeting from hordes of backseat A&R men, and having already been crafted her own pedestal as a style deity by the fashion press before most of them have even heard her sing a note, means there's a sizeable, cynical gaze to contend with. It's somewhat fortunate, then, that Travelling Like The Light boasts a rare kind of head-turning indie-pop magnificence more than capable of both remunerating anxious fans and silencing - if not fully converting - detractors.

The chequered-floor locale of debut track Crying Blood provides a slightly more accurate indication of Travelling Like The Light than the darker, more contemporary riffage of big-money launch single Shark In The Water. That's not to say we're talking a solid album of potato-mashing doo-wop lunacy - rather, Brown's largely-50s influence permeates each track with different approaches and to varying extents, creating an eclectic yet uniform collection of songs.

The Wurlitzer wonderment of Quick Fix and L.O.V.E. impart a refreshing demonstration of a pop simplicity lost on any number of electro-heavy buzz artists, a sentiment further echoed on the endearingly unpretentious Crazy Amazing.

And still, the surprises come thick and fast. Tales of gut-wrenching misery are camouflaged as beaming, uptempo numbers; the titular ballad is stripped back to little more than a temperate heartbeat rhythm; and the aforementioned Crying Blood drops everything for a fleeting burst of 1-up bleepery.

And yet, there's no feeling of any kind of gimmickry in this. Travelling Like The Light, with all its quirks and foibles and cheeky winks, comes over as an honest representation of Brown's form and talent. More than anything else, Travelling Like The Light tears through any hastily-assigned pigeonholes or fashion-focused stigma, and validates the authentic musician behind the gloss. --Al Fox

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V V Brown is a singer, a songwriter, a performer, multi-instrumentalist and a producer, who first came to attention after landing an upfront slot on Later With Jools Holland. Her performance on the show won her a lot of admirers, including Damon Albarn, who invited her to perform on his Africa Exprez adventure in Lagos. Though music has always been a big part of V Vs life, with early influences including Ruth Brown, Elvis Presley and, just as importantly, the music from Super Marioland.

Travelling Like The Light, is a perfect introduction to the 25-year old’s sound. In this young lady’s world, love sounds like the perfect melody. Both are difficult to define she says, but both pour out of the songs on her debut album. This is music which sounds like performance: dramatic, charismatic and, frequently, as mad as a box of frogs. This is high definition, high concept pop with scuffed edges and laddered tights. V V describes her music as "musical mashed potatoes", which must, therefore, make her songs "smash hits"--but there’s nothing instant or synthetic about these pop tunes. Her songs are instantly addictive and unmistakably honest, with lyrics asking "what the bloody point is" answered by melodies full of life and reasons to be cheerful. The contradiction works, throwing the listener from happy to sad and back again in the space of three minutes.