I've got a failing for the female voice (a small fault in a good man, I hope you agree) so the review of Gemma Ray's new album fell to me. Like all truly shallow men, I perused the cover to determine just how long it would be before I was in love.
There's a good few things about this album that would intoxicate a man. Ms Ray's vocals have that distant, running off into the sunset feeling to them. Not quite a torch singer - for they always fight their ground - she dances her way around the words. It's almost like she's playing with the songs, like they are not really songs but thinly disguised enchantments designed to hypnotise you. Then she throws in superficially sweet little numbers like "Tough Love" that have no obvious connection to what has gone before or what is to come but, to her credit, all Ms Ray's songs have something of a timeless quality that transcends trends and will surely give them wide appeal.
In case you are interested, I didn't actually manage fall in love whilst listening to this album but I would certainly have no problem allowing Ms Ray to buy me a couple of drinks and letting her try again.
There was I looking at the cover once more when it occurred to me that Gemma Ray looked a bit like Lily Allen. Only classier. Fortunately Ms Ray's music is not like Lily Allen's. It's a lot classier.