Appleton fail to find musical voice

Appleton fail to find musical voice

By Michael Osborn
BBC News Online

Natalie and Nicole Appleton are putting All Saints behind them

Sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton, who are former members of headline-hitting group All Saints, have released their debut album.

When successful girl group All Saints fell apart, blood soon proved to be much thicker than water.

Sisterly duo Nicole and Natalie eventually emerged from the band's ashes to form familial combo Appleton.

Melanie Blatt famously photocopied her behind for a television advert and Shaznay Lewis disappeared without a trace from the music scene.

The Appleton siblings already score highly on the celebrity stakes with respective partners Liam Gallagher from Oasis and the Prodigy's Liam Howlett.

They also stand out from the crowd as a curiously interchangeable blonde double act. But the question overhanging their debut album is whether their music will cut a distinctive path through the charts.

Everything's Eventual kicks off with the girls' first offering Fantasy, a strong song with a soft rock tenor which marked their return to the pop firmament.

Their album mixes slinky R&B with power ballads

Current single and second track Don't Worry sees the sisters go soft and mushy, with a strings-laden ballad designed to make us sleep sounder in our beds.

On a meaty collection of 13 songs, the theme that develops is there is no clear strand pulling them together - only the sisters' hair styles and make-up have any uniformity.

The album peaks early at track three with what is easily Appleton's best effort, Hallelujah.

This remarkably upbeat song with its infectiously stilted beat sees the girls making a sophisticated pop anthem.

But Appleton have decided they have a penchant for heartfelt ballads - All Grown Up, 5am and Anyone fall into this dreary stable, although their smooth vocals are more than up to the task.

Perky pop ditty

Ring-A-Ding-Ding clocks in at well over six minutes, but is disappointingly not an ode to Eurovision. Its subtle strings and pseudo-Eastern feel makes it a more probable candidate for a film theme.

The ghost of All Saints' brand of slick urban-tinged pop comes back to haunt us on MWA, where the Appletons return to their fast-talking, combat pants-clad past.

Yet in another shift of gear, Nicole and Natalie turn in a performance to beat Atomic Kitten at their own game on Waiting For True Love - a perky pop ditty blessed with girl band credentials.

Final offering Blow My Mind kicks off with that All Saints whiff, but flourishes into a gutsy chorus with rock orchestra backing - another strong offering.

Patchy affair

From the embers of one of our best girl groups in recent years emerges a family act which hasn't quite decided its musical direction.

This album inherits some All Saints moments - but add Atomic Kitten, Natalie Imbruglia, rock chick chic and balladesque soppiness into a seriously mixed bag.

Appleton's first outing shows that the girls have yet to settle into a distinctive musical style which marks them out from the rest.

The result is a patchy affair which is full of indeterminate hits, misses and maybes.

Everything's Eventual is out now on Polydor Records