Bubblegum pop hasn't come much tastier in the past few years than when wrapped between the covers of Eliza Doolittle's self-titled debut.
The old-school skiffle of Moneybox, retro-lite jazz of Rollerblades and Brill Building snap of Pack Up helped shift half a million copies as everything was sacrificed for a catchy melody.
Three years on, Eliza has moved on from being Lily Allen's chirpy cousin. Gone are the trainers and hotpants; in comes a low-cut little black number for the covershot of album number two.
Her singing style has changed too. Summer single Big When I Was Little caught some of the throwaway pop appeal of her debut, but there's more emphasis here on giving space to the soulful side of her voice, as a strong R'n'B vocal performance on opener Waste of Time gives way to a shift towards Janelle Monae's territory on Back Packing.
But when the pace slows, Eliza's natural vivacity fades, the production beats become more insistent and the production style more generic.
It obviously makes commercial sense to have the 25-year-old Londoner grow up musically, and in vocal terms she clearly can deliver the goods. But In Your Hands contains one thing the debut didn't - filler songs to pad out the running time.
ALAN MORRISON
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