GABRIELLA CILMI
Lessons To Be Learned
(Warners)
Herald Rating: * * * *
Verdict: She's the new Kylie - only this Australian can sing
By now you've probably already had to stop somewhere and bang your head against a concrete wall trying to get Gabriella Cilmi's ridiculously catchy ditty Sweet About
Me out of your head.
The 16-year-old Australian is the new Amy. Actually, let's make that the new Duffy, since Amy has been caught on camera being mean to mice. Plus Cilmi (pronounced chill-me) also seems so lovely - if the sweet refrains of Sanctuary and the innocent girly fun of I Don't Want To Go To Bed Now and Messy are anything to go by.
The difference between Cilmi and those other two is that her debut album, Lessons To Be Learned, is a diverse mix of styles drawing influence from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder and Janis Joplin to the Kings of Leon and modern soul divas like Winehouse.
Opening track Save The Lies nicks the tremulous Higher Ground riff beautifully; Terrifying is a thigh-slapping porch song; and the seductive and moochy Cigarettes and Lies is a highlight.
She had help writing these songs from songwriting team Xenomania (Kylie, Sugababes, Franz Ferdinand) but at 16 Cilmi already has a strong voice, with a smattering of grit to it (somewhere between Eartha Kitt, Winehouseand Leona Lewis), that's big enough to carry an album.
