Fact #129450

Melanie, the former Mel B of the Spice Girls, was arguably one of the only two decent vocalists in that megastar pop-dance ensemble, but this album moves her firmly towards the middle ground of chirpy, faceless MOR that provides the sluggish heartbeat for Radio Two. After living in LA for several years (hence the album title) she’s put herself in the capable hands of producer Kevin Malpass, a prolific composer of everything from tv channel idents (BBC, C4, Discovery etc) to commercials (Gaviscon, Whiskas, Nintendo etc). Malpass has previously enjoyed pop success with DJ Encore, Maria Rubin and others, and he’s co-written the effervescent, string-driven pop froth of this album’s first single, Today. Given the limitations of the genre, it’s a very good piece of work indeed, but the rest of the album is co-written by Mel, so we’re treated to the inevitable song about how lovely her daughter is, and others with names courtesy of Title-U-Like including Rhythm Of The Night, In Too Deep and Hold On. It’s all very nice but far from special.
Johnny Black (review originally appeared in Hi Fi News)