Tracklist

1. Debbie
2. Upside Down
3. Catastrophe
4. Algorithm (Interlude)
5. Algorithm
6. Sounds Like It Feels
7. Jesus On Mars
8. Who Dimmed the Lights
9. Endgame
10. Just Drive
11. Breathe With the Fire Lola
12. Beautiful Love

Thoughts

I've always liked Natalie Imbruglia, but seeing her pop up on old Top of the Pops episodes made me respect her even more. In a time of lip synching, she was forging ahead with live vocals and a live band, and showing how talented she is. So any new album that pops up, I'm all in.

This is a different sound for her, moving more towards dance. (Is this a trend for 90s stars? Melanie C also releasing a dance record recently.) This one was in the same vein as Robyn, though, in fact a couple of tracks could have been by the Swedish singer, however Natalie is far less melancholy.

In Upside Down, she's singing about dancing in the sky and you can almost hear the smile on her face. Even a song called Catastrophe feels upbeat, a woman's looking for drama, but it's all going to be fine! It's not relentless optimism though, there's still room for concern about the current state of society. In Debbie: "It's amazing what a mind / Can do to waste your time." And in title track Algorithm: "How can you be in the zone / When you're always on the telephone?"

I've not always enjoyed dance albums (Melanie C's didn't land with me, sadly) but this one had me tapping my foot all the way through. Breathe With the Fire Lola probably tipped a bit too far into this new genre, but as it was towards the end of the album, it certainly wasn't off-putting.

The first half was more engaging than the second, but there wasn't a noticeable dip in quality and I will be reaching for this album again very soon. That makes it a 5 out of 5.

Rating: 5 / 5