Charlotte Church - Back To Scratch

Well, opera/pop singer Charlotte Church is ready to make her music comeback, and has selected the title track from her upcoming self funded pop album 'Back To Scratch' to do just that. Is the Welsh songstress taking that title literally however, or is she just a big old tease?

It is obvious from the moment the track opens that this is definitely not the same sound we've heard from her before, however, Church has managed to subtly add some little features that are reminiscent of her previous musical works. With a jaunty, twinkly backing track that has a classical twist, especially when it comes to the chorus, the track is very light and easy to listen to.

Church's vocals also seem lighter and more stripped back than we heard on her 'Tissues And Issues' LP, and there are some hints of her infamous operatic trill because of this. Despite the airy vocals, at points we can hear her rich tones shining through.

However, we find that the lyrics don't flow perhaps as well as they might, and come across as a little disjointed which does seem a little paradoxical against the flowing nature of the backing track. However, we will allow Miss Church this slight fault as she does deserve a chance to experiment with her sound.

The chorus is more funky and uptempo than the rest of the track, but yet again we can hear a slight reference back to her past, as we find a West End presence in her vocals. Despite this, we find that it is a refreshing hook in a weird kind of way, perhaps due the fact that it's a different sound to what's on offer from other artists at the moment. Either way, something that could have been a bit of a car crash really does work for us, despite the many reasons for why it shouldn't.

We feel that Church is extremely skilled to show more of her origins in this track, whilst maintaining a pop feel. We also love the accompanying video to the track which, whilst fairly low budget, remains fresh and interesting. All in all, whilst this may not be as much of a hit as 'Crazy Chick,' we applaud her for taking a risk, let's just hope it gets the recognition it deserves and doesn't simply slip under the radar...

7/10 - Spice