Second album from Australian popstrel, but don't worry, Kylie: your crown is safer than ever.
It's no surprise that chilled-out pop is big news in Australia; for a nation of folk so stereotypically laidback that they're horizontal, music to relax to must be high on the agenda. On the other hand, the Antipodean nation has spawned fist-pumping acts like Pendulum, Pnau and Pivot. A singer like Gabriella Cilmi sits somewhere vaguely between both scenes; the Sydney native (by way of Italy – hence that surname, pronounced 'Chill-me') makes pop music that's commercial enough for radio, but which would go down a treat on cheesy dance nights in your average Aussie nightclub, too.
Her second album bodes well, if the liner notes are anything to go by; production by Greg Kurstin (of The Bird and the Bee, who also co-produced Little Boots' debut) and Xenomania implies that there's a certain seal of quality about 'Ten'. Unfortunately, that's not the case at all. Although there are certainly some reasonably sharp tunes to bop to ('Hearts Don't Lie' could be a Kylie b-side, while the urgent 'Superhot' is undeniably addictive), much of this album is over-glitzed, over-greased and plain tacky.
It's a shame that so much has been thrown at 'Ten' in the way of effects and ostentation: the result is a collection of generic songs that sound like mere shadows of Sugababes, or – as demonstrated on 'Invisible Girl' – a mash-up of Alexandra Burke's 'Bad Boys' and Britney Spears's 'If U Seek Amy'. It's a real shame, because Cilmi shows what she can do on the calmer 'Superman', a tune that proves that you don't need hi-tech studio prowess to be sassy, even if the lyrics are woeful. In reality, there's nothing in Cilmi's catalogue that you won't already have heard across 80% of the top 20 charts. Far from a perfect ten.
