POP: ALBUM REVIEWS

Supernaturals: A Tune for a Day (Food, below) The fact that the Supernaturals have an unhealthy appetite for limited-framework, new-wave guitars is just one of the reasons why this debut album so often slides into drabness. The Supernaturals palette is mostly jovial rock, with bounce in the melodies, but the songs belly-flop because they don't have the spark of class that, say, Dodgy found in themselves. An exception to this is the angry gem "Motorcycle Parts", but the Supernaturals are forever destined to lurk at the shallow end of sunny Brit rock. H

Myron: Destiny (Island Records)

The album by this Cleveland, Ohio, soul arrival offers a great opportunity to glimpse the current cycle in Yank R'n'B. Puff Daddy's once predominant ruthless production style is clearly out of fashion, while old-school, slick, Seventies grooves, underpinned by a clicking, skeletal breakbeat (see also Monica and Gerald Levert albums) are in. Myron, meanwhile, is desperately likeable, but the familiar avenues down which his songs flow make this only fleetingly sensuous. Undistinguished. HH

Astrid: Boy For You (Nude)

Astrid, who hails from Shetland, has equipped herself with just the right measure of vivaciousness, and invests her tunes with a suitable dose of revealing lyrics and strummed charm. But it is still far too early to say whether that edgy voice and vibrant directness will give her the wings to fly high. Sure, the swaysome piano-mourner "Someone" sounds like Aretha Franklin, but Astrid is just aping the best - for now. HH