Little Boots, Hands

There has been an awful lot of hype around Little Boots (Victoria Hesketh) over the last nearly 12 months and I have to say that after purchasing the Little Boots EP from iTunes at the beginning of this year I could see why. Ever since hearing the three tracks included (Mathematics, Meddle and Love Kills) I was hooked. Each song was pure electro-pop joy loaded with killer hooks and catchy choruses. My curiosity and desire to buy the album was fuelled still further after seeing Little Boots perform on Jools Holland so when Little Boots' 'Hands' came out I bought it straight away expecting great things.

'Hands' on first listening left me feeling a little frustrated. You are made to wonder if you have been listening to Kylie meets Goldfrapp with the new single 'New In Town' sounding just a little uncannily like Billie Piper for my liking, but you can't escape the fact that it does have some outstanding tracks which are glossy and full of life and then there are others which just sound weak in comparison. After biding my time before writing this review, I have since listened to the whole album a number of times and my conclusion is that the best tracks really are barn-stormers but because they are SO good, the other tracks just can't live up to them. It's not that there is anything really wrong with the weaker tracks, they're well written and superbly produced by Little Boots herself, but the good ones leave you wanting more of the same and therefore the whole album can't quite live up to expectation.

I thought that 'New In Town' was a strange choice for lead single from 'Hands'. Sure it has a catchy chorus, not dissimilar to Billie Piper's first single 'Because We Want To' and I think this is why I don't really like it that much and don't feel it deserves the accolade it has received from the media. Two weeks outside the Top 10 singles chart also demonstrates that people obviously don't think this is really that great a track. It is, however, a relatively good opener to the album before you get catapulted into 'Earthquake' which as soon as the music starts coursing through the earphones you know you're on to a winner. It's a great pop track and as soon as it started I thought here we go! The track easily slides into the cool 'Stuck On Repeat' which carries on the high before getting bogged down in the quicksand which is 'Click'. This is where the album ups and down start as this is followed by arguably one of the strongest pop songs I've heard in a long time, 'Remedy'. The other two songs which stand out that haven't already been mentioned are the duet with Phil Oakey (The Human League) 'Symmetry' and 'Hearts Collide'.

Overall this is a good first album but it leaves you feeling both elated and disappointed at the same time and therefore it doesn't get the 5 stars I really wanted to give it. What I'm hoping is that Little Boots will go on to produce a brilliant second album which completely lives up to the hype that has surrounded her and leaves me dancing round the house from start to finish!