Our Version Of Events
(Virgin)
Let's call it the Someone Like You moment. It occurs roughly 14 minutes into Emeli Sande's debut album: a piano-and-voice ballad called Clown, sung from the point of view of a 21st-century woman looking at the state of a broken relationship. It's a real showstopper, not just in terms of the vocal performance but composition too. Sande had, of course, proved her point as a writer long before the release of Our Version Of Events, comfortably penning songs for talents as disparate as Professor Green and Susan Boyle. But Clown is something else: classic in shape, timeless in melody, a solo statement of intention. If this were a movie, you'd put it on the soundtrack and write A Star Is Born above the credits. Taken a few songs at a time, the album is stunning; listened to in its 14-track entirety, however, weaknesses start to show - melodic formulas are repeated and the production is overburdened by string arrangements. But she's got a gift for capturing drama in music, and there's no doubt a major force has just arrived in British music.
