Sophie Ellis Bextor - Trip The Light Fantastic

First off, ‘Trip The Light Fantastic’ could just about be the perfect title for a pop release. Intriguing and more than a little tongue in cheek, it’s a knowing start for the third Sophie Ellis Bextor album.

Right from the start, this is an out and out dancefloor assault. ‘Catch You’ was perhaps a touch one-dimensional, too ‘of the moment’ for a lead single; its chorus dragged rather than ignited. A problem which is most definitely solved by ‘Me And My Imagination’, an immediate and irresistible slice of pop. The song’s pace and melody make the most of Sophie’s deadpan delivery. This is modern pop with old time appeal - it sticks in the head and refuses to budge.

Comparison with other female artists will inevitably ensue, and while ‘New York City Lights’ is very ‘Confessions…’ era Madonna and ‘If You Go’ enlists the help of Xenomania, both are still trademark Sophie, making them very much her own. There’s little - even in mid-album tracks ‘New Flame’ and ‘The Distance Between Us’ - that offers itself up for easy criticism.

Things get even better; tucked away towards the end of the album is ‘Love Is Here’, one of two songs co-written with Dan Gillespie Sells. Simply superb, it’s an impossibly catchy song and while it may be pop-by-numbers, there’s something wonderfully fresh and optimistic about it. Hugely charming, it builds with each repeat of the chorus, drawing in and seducing the listener. This could be the hit of the summer if it’s released.

There is the odd ballad or two, ably demonstrated by the majestic ‘What Have We Started’, a track which is neither bathed in cliché or overt sweetness. It’s an impassioned, tender song which touches with bare emotion. To prove this is no one-off, Sophie also offers up ‘Today The Sun’s On Us’, which is warm, layered and soothing with a summery sheen.

Sophie Ellis Bextor has a class, an air which most pop stars lack. Is it the arch looks, the dry humour, the obvious intelligence or simply the fact she looks stunning in every picture? She has the kind of beauty that attracts - yet divides - opinion. Frankly, who cares, when she’s releasing albums as good as this?