Cheryl
A Million Lights

For some time now, the Elizabethan United Kingdom (or Great Britain, or "synecdochically" England) has been a true hotbed of musical revelations, most of which are directed at the usual mass market. The homeland of alternative culture to the US fanfares, often producing notable creations and inspiring a wide range of innovations, has transformed into a landscape of trend-setters and trend-setting (from the mainstream explosion of electronics and its related underground culture to the breakthrough of the new white soul generation in the charts), even responsible for bringing boy bands and teen pop back into vogue. Thus, behind Westminster, the typical feudal rigidity of Her Majesty's islands, and Beatles nostalgia, emerges a pop culture that is not entirely new, yet significant in countering the perpetual American provocations with its various peripheral facets.

Cheryl Cole, the ex-wife of the unfaithful footballer Ashley, bows to the English crown as one of the most fascinating and sensual artists beyond the Channel. A child of the contemporary girl-group tradition naturally inspired by the Spice Girls, Cole was part of the Girls Aloud collective for years, well known in London, Dublin, and nearby but less relevant on the Continent; the Aloud, active since 2003 with Sound Of The Underground, offered a rich, tantalizing, mischievous, and refined pop cabaret, quite far from the trashy hip shakes of the American-Hawaiian Pussycat Dolls, producing hit after hit until 2008-09, when front-woman Cheryl began to embrace the almost obvious idea of a solo career. Cole's debut, 3 Words, an R&B-Lounge mix with dance nuances, was one of the best international pop-mainstream productions of the early decade and made itself heard even in the desolate pseudo-songwriting reality of the bel country. Assisted by the loyal Will.I.Am, head of the loved and hated Black Eyed Peas and a renowned producer for other famous figures in the music biz, Cheryl nevertheless surrendered to the electro dance drift with the second Messy Little Raindrops, cute yet unabashedly commercial and trendy, far from the soft and relaxed glories of 3 Words.

The landing on the third album, A Million Lights, and the decision to drop the (acquired) surname in the signature of her solo works, decree a good compromise between her first two works and close a trilogy - all in all significant - focused on the classic union of slowjam ballads and hyper-danceable club bangers. Although still qualitatively inferior to the debut, the album manages to surpass the descent into commercial standardization of Messy Little Raindrops, presenting a wide range of sounds: a dance-pop strand with energetic improvisations in dubstep (the probable next singles Screw You, Love Killer, Boys Lie and Craziest Things, performed with mentor Will.I.Am), some house remixes (Sexy Den A Mutha and the lead single Call My Name produced by the Scotsman Calvin Harris, the new RedOne of the discotheques), and classic electropop (Girl In The Mirror, One Thousand). The ballads of the best mainstream tradition are indispensable, among which we must highlight Ghetto Baby, written by the "old school inspired" Lana del Rey, the romantic All Is Fair and the almost piano-instrumental Telescope. Finally worth noting is the funky reggae of Under The Sun, a simple track far from the current synth and neo soul vogues.

Delicate, charming, exciting (for the more biting lustful ones, ed.), and also nice, Cheryl (Cole) also dons the - branded - clothing of a good godmother of European pop, far removed from the artistic scandals of Lady Gaga and the glossy presidential whore-pop. Once again reaffirming the current unreachability of 3 Words (with a sophistication comparable, for example, to the splendid compatriot Sophie Ellis-Bextor or the semi-divine Kylie, proponents of a five-star pop), A Million Lights is able to marry trend and simplicity with dignity, charisma and naturalness, mainstream and taste. And perhaps, the red carpets of the American Music Awards should be a little more inspired by their colleagues with the umbrella, the bowler hat, the Queens, and Class.

Cheryl, A Million Lights

Under The Sun - Call My Name - Craziest Things - Girl In The Mirror - A Million Lights - Screw You - Love Killer - Ghetto Baby - Sexy Den A Mutha - Mechanics Of The Heart - All Is Fair - Last One