Katie Melua is back… and I can’t say I’ve missed her. The House is reminiscent of a glass of overly diluted juice: it’s watery, bland and lacks flavour. It’s surprising that Melua remains as homogenous as ever, seeing as this time she’s ditched her long time collaborator, one time Womble Mike Batt, and has teamed up with hit Madonna and U2 producer William Orbit.
It is obvious from the opening track that this is Melua’s stab at being edgy. The unintentional dark humour of ‘I’d Love To Kill You’ is a long way from the Melua who once sang about bicycles in Beijing. Yet, even when she is threatening to kill people, Melua remains as frustratingly dull as ever. Lyrics that attempt to be kooky such as “I’d like to kill you by a stream, where no one can hear my baby scream” simply ring crazy lady alarm bells.
There are moments that suggest potential. The first single to be released from the album, ‘The Flood’, mixes together Indian influences with a relaxed rocky feel which works well and makes way for a drastic change of mood in the middle, becoming upbeat and trippy. ‘No Fear of Heights’ and ‘Tiny Alien’ also suggest some interesting ideas. However, these tracks are anomalies in an otherwise vapid album.
The music scene has changed considerably since Melua’s last release in 2007. With lacklustre releases such as this, she will have to work hard in order to remain successful in the charts where strong, distinctive women such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna now dominate.