A couple of years ago, Claire Sproule was making a few quid by singing Eva Cassidy songs in the pubs of her native Donegal. Now she's being hailed as the Irish Norah Jones. Her debut album suggests that while the Northern girl certainly has talent, she has some way to go yet before she'll be worthy of such lofty comparisons. Her beautifully clear voice soars elegantly over the minimal jazzy arrangements and the production is impeccably polished. But while her compositions have an intimate, confessional air to them, the lyrics never quite deliver as much as they promise, allowing the proceedings to drift dangerously close to the middle of the road. The folk-blues hybrid Sproule is clearly aiming for needs a certain bite if it's to work, and too many of the songs here just don't have it. Still, very definitely a name for the future.

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