KT Tunstall, Drastic fantastic

Perfect, fun folk pop.

KT's second album is much more polished than her debut, 'Eye to the Telescope', containing the hit 'Suddenly I see'. The first album had rave reviews, although a few critics claimed it was bland and tedious- this is the same view with some critics when it comes to this album, but not me.

This CD varies in style. Although the theme throughout is acoustic/semi acoustic pop folk, the styles of the songs differ, creating an exciting and fun album, making the listener wonder what is next.

The highlight of this album for me, is the track 'If Only'; the soft rock, ballad, with it's rollocking back beat and perfect harmonies provides an element of polish to the singer's somewhat raunchy folk style. Similarly, the opening song, 'Little Favours', follows this style, also to great effect.

In contrast, the acoustic tracks are meaningful and heartfel,: particularly the song 'White Bird', which sounds as though it could have been written by Patti Smith.

The track 'Hopeless' epitomizes Tunstall's core folk style, and is a catchy and up beat song that will stick in your head, as will the single 'Saving My Face', which is similar in style to 'Hopeless'. The most successful single on this album, 'Hold On' is a foot tapping and lively song, which is also very uplifting, and will have you bopping along to it as you walk down the road.

The only song I have reservations about on the album is the song 'Beauty of Uncertainty', one of KT's trademark dark acoustic tracks, which didn't appear to hold it's weight upon first listening. Although it is not a 'bad' song and gains more momentum towards the end, it didn't hold my attention in the same way acoustics such as 'Someday Soon' and 'Paper Aeroplane' do.

All in all, this album is one of those that you can just play from back to front, and not have to press 'skip' on any of these tracks- perfect folk-pop-rock at it's best!

Stand-out tracks: 'Little Favours' 'If Only' 'Saving My Face' and 'Hopeless'