Miley Cyrus - Breakout

Rating: * * *

You know a song is catchy when it plays in your dreams. It doesn't mean it's good - but you can't deny its potency. Miley Cyrus has plagued my head for days now with her new album Breakout.

You may not like her, or what she represents, but you've got to give the young lady credit for creating an album of fun, catchy pop music, devoid of the electronic vocal assists and fuzzy distortion that has become endemic to the genre. Think Britney, Kylie and the terrible Pussycat Dolls.

Likewise, eight of the album's 12 tracks attribute writing credits to Cyrus - which is more than Miss Spears can say of her last effort.

That said, Breakout is very much an album of singles and filler. 7 Things is already storming the charts with its silly first-love-lost lyrics, while the deep, fuzzy bassline and echoed chorus of  Fly on the Wall  will no doubt see it follow suit. But the rest of the album passes without incident - good or bad.

A cover of Cyndi Lauper's classic Girls Just Wanna Have Fun gives the anthem a grunty makeover but will never supersede the original on people's party playlists.

Her first album not to feature her Disney alter-ego Hannah Montana, Breakout is not so much a rebellion, as a politely phrased difference of opinion.

Joanna Hunkin