Album: Beth Rowley, Beth Rowley (Blue Thumb/Universal)

Soulful, sultry, smoky, smooth as expensive paint and deeply glossy. You can see why Beth Rowley is highly recommended.

She's classy stuff: delivers elegantly turned variations on various blue themes with excellent coverage, framed and varnished without flaw. "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground", "I Shall Be Released", "Almost Persuaded": it's a tasteful rack of other people's blues – less histrionic than Adele's and more thoughtful than Duffy's. But boy, that gloss finish is hard to get underneath. Stick around for when there's been a little wear and tear and then maybe she'll move you.

Pick of the Album: 'Beautiful Tomorrow': gospel elegance

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