Andrea CorrTen Feet HighReview

Whether you’re willing to admit it or not, The Corrs were a great pop band. Admittedly they were a bit twee, but if you could look past that, the likes of “What Can I Do” and the spine tingly “Runaway” offered polish to the charts of the 1990s.

Personality though was never their strong point. Known to many as three pretty girls and a weird brother, we probably couldn’t have imagined any of them successfully going on to do anything else but be in The Corrs. But now, the youngest of the girls, Andrea, is relishing the hiatus in her family band by striking out with her own debut solo record.

There’s nothing immediate about “Ten Feet High” though, and it’s difficult to see exactly who would buy it. Those who liked the ‘Irishness’ of The Corrs will be miss their tin whistle. And anyone who thought superstar producer Nellie Hooper might inject a bit of pop sass into Andrea will find it all a bit wishy-washy.

“Shame On You”, the anti-war first single, is a good example of such mediocrity. Andrea’s soft vocals sit over a shallow drum rhythm that never really reaches fruition. A stronger dance beat behind the vocal could easily have turned it into a Jurgen Vries alike dance classic. The vampy “Hello Boys” opens the album and initially sparks hopes that Andrea has filled the open electro princess gap in the pop market but despite it’s thrilling synths, her vocals let the track down. And let’s try to forget the creepy “I Do” presenting Andrea in almost lullaby mode

While the first half of the album is entirely disposable, if you can wait, the good bits almost arrive. “24 Hours” is a perky pop song that, like “Ideal World” could happily have fitted on “Talk On Corners”. A somewhat incongruous cover of Squeeze’s “Take Me I’m Yours’” has a dark, 80s electro-edge oozing with Hooper’s trademark bleeps and actually shows Andrea’s voice at it’s best.

“Ten Feet High” is then, a somewhat missed opportunity. Trying to combine sultry electro with mum-friendly pop has created a disappointing mix with neither style really excelling.