What Promotion Challenge?

After having been promised the world through seven figure signings and big name arrivals under Gordon Strachan, Middlesbrough Football Club is beginning to see the after affects of a ghost promotion campaign.

Steve Gibson entrusted Strachan with his cheque book but unfortunately for him and all those optimistic Teessiders, the squad massively failed to live up to expectations.

But what long term effects have Gibson’s debatable naivety and Boro’s downfall under Gareth Southgate and Strachan had on the club’s long term future?

Thankfully, and many would say rightly, Strachan left without a big pay-off after ripping up the remainder of his contract that was believed to have been worth around £3million in total.

So it seemed only right that one of Boro’s heroes of 1986 would prove the Scot’s natural successor to breathe life back into the club.

But even Mogga was quoted this week as saying that he wrote off around £350,000 of money owed by his former club Celtic to come to back to Teesside.

So thankfully the club’s managerial switch-up didn’t cause anywhere near the financial damage that relegation did although it seems that the effects of the drop felt nearby could have been catastrophic.

Newcastle have reported losses of £17.1million as a result of their relegation from the Premier League alongside Middlesbrough and West Brom in 2009.

Thankfully for them, the Magpies managed to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt and have since seen big name arrivals and departures as well as bringing in Premier League TV money.

European names like Hatem Ben Arfa have arrived at St. James’, while assets like Andy Carroll have been sold for unbelievable prices (although promotion and the Carroll sale aren’t reflected in the figures).

Newcastle’s gamble with their finances paid off, in keeping many top flight players with the aim of achieving immediate promotion back to the Premier League. In contrast Boro’s more conservative gamble backfired.

Seeing such losses at close quarters doesn’t bode well for the Reds, who in comparison delayed that relegation push a season before splashing out on talent that has again knocked back Boro’s ambitions.

Having had the luxury of top flight parachute payments following relegation, Boro’s fortunes have repeatedly failed to improve and now a final reduction in such payments means that finances will become even more stretched if changes aren’t implemented.

It could be argued that the window to a Premier League return has passed as the club relies on ever reducing turnover that isn’t helped by this season’s record low Riverside attendances.

Now it seems that the club will have to cut costs in order to mount any sort of serious Championship campaign next season as the club’s finances continually come under scrutiny.

Some rumours have even gone as far as suggesting that the club may have to go into administration in the near future.

Scott Wilson, chief sports writer for the Northern Echo, said via his Twitter account: “Wage bill is currently about £20m and total turnover next year will be about £14m. Desire is for wages to drop to £6m.”

This quite sobering yet somewhat unsurprising idea that cutting the wage bill is the way to ensure the club’s future certainly casts doubt on whether Boro’s Premier League ambitions are at all realistic.

Despite this TEAMtalk.com estimate that Strachan’s marquee signing, Kris Boyd, for example is earning around £1.5million a year, which makes reductions in costs sound not all that damaging.

Especially when you consider that the likes of Justin Hoyte and Didier Digard, who are also believed to be on big money, could be out of the door as well without causing too much of a loss to Mowbray’s current favoured squad.

Julio Arca is one player with a thickset pay packet that Mowbray has taken a liking to however, but whether pay cuts can appease every wage-related headache before next season is extremely questionable.

It seems that for Boro to mount any sort of challenge for next season’s Championship crown, given that the Reds avoid the drop to League One this season of course, drastic changes will need to be made.

Mowbray himself has pledged his belief in the young players that have made a name for themselves since his arrival, such as Joe Bennett, Jason Steele and Cameron Park, although they continue to be leered at by top flight hawks.

Another evident pattern in Mowbray’s more recent transfer activity is his reliance on foreign and lower league players, which again may yield more Zemmama-style bargains but whether they can replace the Teesside club’s current big earners remains to be seen.

Also published on www.oneboro.co.uk

http://oneboro.co.uk/what-promotion-challenge-30-03-2011-359.html

Bennett's Breakthrough

EVERY year there seems to be a bright new prospect that suddenly emerges from Dave Parnaby’s famed Middlesbrough youth academy that captures the imagination of the fans and is inevitably linked to a big move away.

There’s been Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson, Nathan Porritt and Cameron Park to name but a few. Some have made it, some haven’t but it seems that Parnaby’s Midas touch is continuing to make itself known.

All of this of course is despite the club’s dwindling resources and recent tumble down the league standings yet the time has come for the club’s latest academy breakthrough performer, Joe Bennett, to be linked to a big move away from the Riverside.

Rochdale born Bennett was actually handed his debut way back in 2009 under Gareth Southgate for the last few minutes of Boro’s doomed relegation campaign in the match against West Ham United.

Few appearances followed before Gordon Strachan’s awkward tenure yielded little more playing time for the England youth player other than cup outings, pushing him to request a loan move which the manager declined.

Earlier this season under Strachan, Bennett was even overlooked in that troublesome left-back spot which the manager decimated by loaning out left footed defenders like Jonathan Grounds and Andrew Taylor.

Somehow the Scot decided that playing other players out of position would fill that void better and as a result brought in centre-back Matt Kilgallon on loan and asked him and right-back Justin Hoyte to fill in at left back.

It really wasn’t until Tony Mowbray took the helm that Bennett got his chance as a first team starter mainly due to injuries and the fact that he was the only natural left-back in the squad at that point.

But Bennett proved all of his doubters wrong and stepped up to become a first team regular with some sparkling displays that have since kept both the returning Taylor and Grounds from taking his place.

In January 2011 the promising 20-year-old was rewarded for his fine form by Mowbray with a four-and-a-half-year contract. The forward thinking defender’s performances have also been backed up by his emergence into the England Under 21 setup.

And Bennett’s success has not gone unnoticed elsewhere with the likes of Sunderland, Manchester City and Liverpool all being linked with moves for the youngster but Bennett seems more than keen to continue his footballing education on Teesside.

On his Twitter account Bennett posted a pledge to stay at the club although it has since been taken off his page. It read: “I don't know where the sunderland, city, liverpool talks come from tweeps!.... I aint going nowhere!”

And having signed such a long term deal so recently, Boro fans can at least rest assured that the defender will either stay or go for a good price. But surely as the club looks to next season, keeping the best of its young talent should be at the top of the agenda.

Another player who has also been linked with a big move is 18-year-old Cameron Park, who also was awarded a four-and-a-half-year contract in January this year.

Described by Mowbray as being in the mould of Boro success stories Adam Johnson and Stewart Downing, the left winger was linked with a surprise move to Liverpool despite only making Boro’s match day squad a handful of times.

All fans can hope for from these youngsters however is that they remain grounded, keep working hard for the cause and grow with the club rather than abandoning what has been a sinking ship in recent years.

The likes of the once highly-rated Porritt for instance failed to live up to expectations.

He found himself in the public eye after BBC Panorama secretly filmed him being presented to Chelsea officials without Boro’s consent.

Since then the now 21-year-old’s career has dwindled into obscurity as after the youngster was sent back to Boro following a loan spell at neighbouring Darlington in 2009 his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

He then went on trial at Portuguese club Belenenses and was widely reported to have signed for them although this reportedly turned out to be untrue.

Porritt is believed to now play his football in Belgium’s third tier at R.O.C de Charleroi-Marchienne although rumours have been circulating around the forums that he is back in England without a club at all.

The youngster was continually linked with having a poor attitude while on Teesside and it is this kind of story that Boro fans are desperate not to be repeated by the club’s current crop of hopefuls.

With guidance and commitment players like Bennett and Park could well become the club’s next success stories and hopefully their growth can continue to form part of Boro line-ups for years to come.

Also published on www.oneboro.co.uk

http://oneboro.co.uk/bennett-s-breakthrough-23-03-2011-358.html

A Striking Dilemma

AFTER it emerged that Middlesbrough’s leading goalscorer Leroy Lita had picked up a severe hamstring tear during the side’s goalless draw with Portsmouth, Tony Mowbray has found himself with a dilemma on his hands.

Having already reduced his options up top by letting Old Firm flop Kris Boyd go out on loan to Nottingham Forest as part of the deal to bring goalkeeper Paul Smith in the other direction, the manager has a limited choice of forwards.

Mowbray also limited his options further by letting Strachan signing Lee Miller go out on loan to Scunthorpe earlier in the campaign. The £500,000 signing, who has only made a handful of Boro appearances, has hardly been value for money.

Lita’s most regular strike partner in recent weeks has been Aussie front man Scott McDonald, who’s place in the team is all but assured after some encouraging performances alongside 10 goal man Lita.

By any standards it must be said however that the front line as a whole has failed to live up to expectations this season as aside from Lita, McDonald only has eight goals this term, Boyd pitched in with six and the rest barely have that between them.

Hard working Dutchman Marvin Emnes has looked a more mature player following his return from a successful loan spell at Swansea but his performances have yet to yield the goals that they deserve, although Mowbray seems keen to use him more as an impact substitute recently.

The former sprinter has however been a willing runner and has contributed a number of assists although many of them came alongside Lita but then again Emnes still has to convince many that he has that killer instinct in front of goal.

Another possible strike partner for McDonald, should Mowbray continue to employ a 4-4-2 formation, is Moroccan international attacker Merouane Zemmama who can play in midfield or up top.

Again Zemmama has been described by Mowbray as an ‘impact substitute’, which in fairness has worked more recently as the diminutive attacker earned Boro a vital last gasp winner against fellow strugglers Derby County two games ago.

Other than that few other names have been mentioned as in the running to partner McDonald although one man who has found himself out in the cold could have an outside chance of making the line up.

Estonian winger Tarmo Kink, who won fans over earlier this season with two fantastic late strikes to sink Burnley at the Riverside, is yet another to be tagged with that ‘impact substitute’ label even though the 25-year-old hasn’t featured at all in recent weeks.

After being dubbed ‘the Tallinn Torpedo’ following his Burnley crackers, Kink has only been a bit part player for the Reds despite Mowbray conceding that he has undoubted talent that is not always directed in the right way.

He told the club’s official website: “He (Kink) has a very obvious talent but he has to learn and understand the mentality that's needed to be a success in the Championship.

“To be fair, he wants to prove he can be a success here and I'm happy to give him that opportunity.”

Saturday’s game against Watford at the Riverside will be a real test for Mowbray’s men particularly as that leaky defence will have to face off against Championship top scorer and former Boro player, Danny Graham.

The promotion contenders have defied their small budget all season through their league exploits and Mowbray’s attacking decisions against them could well be a sign of things to come if Lita fails to return before the end of the campaign.

At this vital point in the season Boro certainly need someone to step up and fulfil Lita’s goal getting attitude and hopefully whoever comes in from the cold to get that chance will snap it up and grab a goal or two.

Also published on www.oneboro.co.uk

http://oneboro.co.uk/a-striking-dilemma-18-03-2011-357.html

Red China Turns Green Giant

ICONIC: CCTV Tower in Beijing is a real spectacle.

AS Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, crossed the Olympic finish line in 9.69 seconds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium the world stopped to take a second look.

So the Chinese had succeeded, as splashing out on the most expensive Olympic games of all time and building some of the most spectacular buildings ever seen, made the world sit up and take note.

No longer do Stalinist structures dominate the communist landscape of the world’s most populated nation with such prevalence.

Instead they now form the historic backdrop to what China has become, an economic show pony with grand ambitions.

The 80,000 seat, skeletal, Swiss-designed Beijing National Stadium, also known as Bird’s Nest Stadium, is a small part of a huge cultural change, casting polished steel shadows over historic Chinese landmarks.

Even 17^th Century Tiananmen Square is now overlooked by an other-worldly futuristic blob, known colloquially as the Alien Egg.

Officially called the Grand National Theatre, the French-designed Alien Egg follows the pattern of western architects being commissioned to shape Chinese cityscapes, suggesting a departure from traditional oriental design.

As a result China and Beijing in particular are now synonymous with cutting edge design and this $300million three-theatre structure, is every bit the grand spectacle.

Another imaginatively named example of extreme development, the Twisted Donut, is a structurally radical, 44 floor loop that acts as the Chinese Central Television Headquarters.

Yet this facade of aesthetic transformation, sparked in part by Olympic ambitions, is seemingly covering the cracks of a painful, forced economic growth.

After communism took hold of China following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, a longing to become the dominant world super-power, despite their drained economic status, led to ecological and social strife.

Over cultivation, over grazing and deforestation have turned around a quarter of China’s land into desert, while an estimated 300,000 people die prematurely every year from polluted air in the country.

And for decades questions have been murmured tentatively from world leaders as to how and why controversially communist China’s immense environmental shortfalls have not been corrected.

At one point it was even believed that on average China opened one new coal-fired power station every week, increasing its emissions more than any other industrialised country put together since 2001.

Typically however, the Chinese were never going to solve this simply.

Instead they, among other things, pledged to build from scratch a showpiece ‘eco-city’ that would support itself through renewable energy created on the island, minus gas guzzling cars and troublesome landfills.

However this more than ambitious plan, proposed to be on Chongming Island, across the water from Shanghai, has been beset with problems and delays since it was announced in 2005.

Recognised as one of the world’s most exciting ecological projects, Dongtan still may become the world’s first zero carbon, completely self sufficient city despite a lack of construction years after it was scheduled to start.

Proposed to home around half a million people in an area about the size of Manhattan, the island still has its supporters and many environmentalists refuse to accept that Dongtan is dead.

And with funds practically spewing from a country with one of the fastest growing economies in the world, such immense environmental undertakings are by no means out of the question.

In fact China has also embarked on an aggressive mission to cut fossil fuels, spending more than $34billion in 2009, more than any other country in the world.

TOWERING: Pudong skyline with soon to be completed Shanghai Tower.

The Chinese now has more hydroelectric generators than any other, is increasing its use of bio-fuels, tops the world in terms of solar power generation and is frenetically increasing its use of wind power.

The Three Gorges Dam, in Hubei province, is all that is modern China.

Considered the largest hydroelectric dam and largest generator of electricity in the world since 2006, this dominating dam measures 1.5miles in width and is the country’s largest construction project since the Great Wall.

This humungous structure, which along with its underground power station is set to be fully operational by 2012, is the tip of the iceberg in terms of Chinese environmental ambition.

Immense projects such as this and the increased push for renewable energy has made red China a green giant.

Projects like these provide a constant reminder of Chinese ambition and innovation in the face of crisis, the centre piece of which however lies to the east, in Shanghai.

In 1992 the then Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, described the city as “the head of the dragon” pulling the country into the future.

Shanghai has since experienced massive investment aimed to redress over half a century of neglect.

Yet again, foreign architects were commissioned to transform what was a rundown industrial city into the personification of modernity and more importantly of the new China.

Shanghai’s recent development again is linked in to European design and competitive communism, with an unprecedented skyline that has sprung up from virtually nowhere.

The 88 storey Jin Mao Tower and immense 101 storey Shanghai World Financial Center, in the Pudong district, lie on what was an area of rice paddies and small factories just over twenty years ago.

Home to economic heavyweights like General Motors, IBM and Credit Lyonnais, these buildings are a bold statement of Chinese world ambition, but again it is argued that a ruthless cultural sacrifice has been made.

Similarly Shanghai International Circuit, a spectacular $450million venture, was transformed from swampland within 18 months to become a world renowned Formula 1 race venue from 2004 onwards.

And the construction steam train is by no means coming to a halt as the biggest Shanghai mega structure yet begins to materialise. The Shanghai Tower will be the third tallest building in the world by 2014.

The multibillion dollar glass tower, which will engulf its Pudong neighbours and feature the world’s highest observation platform, is another glowing example of architecture that marks out China as forward thinking.

After decades of decay and environmental neglect, China is now ruthlessly transforming itself from an over industrialised workhorse into a rounded, environmentally viable economic powerhouse.

As the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but China’s relentless charge towards to the top seat in world economics is seemingly inevitable.

Album Review: Home Video - 'The Automatic Process'

RETURN: Home Video's second album comes after four year wait.

ELECTRONICA, synth and classical training aren’t exactly what you’d call a natural collection of musical terms but a pair of American high school chums fused those influences to create Home Video in 1997.

Classically inclined David Gross and New Orleans schoolmate Collin Ruffino have again teamed up to create their 11 track second album ‘The Automatic Process’ in a self released, produced and penned effort.

Coming after a four year wait, this album is aimed at more of the critical acclaim that its predecessor ‘No Certain Night or Morning’ got in being compared to Radiohead’s legendary ‘Kid A’ album.

This collection is somewhat difficult to categorise however, as it continues on the same electro influenced theme as their debut and again carries no real get up and dance element.

Instead it’s an atmospheric and quite arty outlook on the genre that is more to be listened to in admiration than to be raved to in a converted warehouse.

‘Smoke’ is a perfect example of this and how the duo use cloudy synth, wailing strings and echoed vocals to create mesmeric imagery around a steady bass line and a high pitched sparkling background piano.

Ruffino is then backed by harmonic synth when he sings: “The smoke billowing.”

The album opener ‘Accomplished But Dead’ also shares this textured almost visual aspect with wailing chords, eerie layered vocals and a recurring deep guitar strum that adds further drama to the track.

One standout and to a degree standalone track is ‘Beatrice’. This reflective love song has an acoustic guitar core backed by heavenly synth and floating percussion before an ‘In The Air Tonight’-style drum section introduces more dreamy instrumentation and a soft bass line.

Ruffino is irresistibly comparable to Thom Yorke’s yearning falsetto particularly in this heartfelt track when he sings: “I see her in my dreams.”

‘Every Love That Ever Was’ starts with a chilled out synth backing with tinkling piano excerpts before joining forces with a Meat Loaf-style piano rock chorus that is completely out of character for this album but it works. But that can’t be said for everything on this album.

Tracks like ‘No Relief’ and ‘I Can Make You Feel’, although different, do fall into the trap of becoming relentless and somewhat tiresome over five minutes, the former for its brash electro soundtrack and the latter for its uninspiring repetitive vocal.

But there’s such a wide range of influences on this album that other than being full of layers and texture, these tracks have no real consistency.

The piano laden ‘Business Transaction’, creepy interlude ‘Description of a Struggle’ and mix and match ‘You Will Know What To Do’, although having individual merits could all be from entirely different records.

In all this is a good follow up to ‘No Certain Night or Morning’ and continues in the same vein although some more forgettable tracks dampen its parade somewhat, there’s still plenty worth sitting back and taking in here.

7/10

Also published on www.virgin.com

http://www.virgin.com/music/reviews/the-automatic-process-out-on-home-video/

Bye Bye Boyd

A MAN who scored more goals in the Scottish Premier League than anyone else in history, beating off names like the great Henrik Larsson and Boro’s very own Scott McDonald, Kris Boyd has sneaked out of the Riverside after just six months.

The beefy striker, who managed 164 goals in nine years that were split between Glasgow Rangers and Kilmarnock, has opted for a loan move to reignite his faltering move to England.

Having scored only six goals in 29 league and cup appearances, Boyd’s loan move to Nottingham Forest hasn’t exactly been frowned upon by fans despite the big man’s fantastic SPL record.

But in all truth Boyd’s poor work rate and less than endearing style made him unpopular at Boro from day one.

The fact that one of the major factors in Boyd’s move was money and his reported £25,000-a-week wages did nothing to turn what eventually became frustrated jeers into supportive cheers either.

Although still under contract with Middlesbrough until the summer of 2012, his latest move and blatant failure to persuade Tony Mowbray of his usefulness to the team makes a summer departure for the 27-year-old forward look ever more likely.

But Mowbray himself has praised Boyd’s effort in training, while at one point Gordon Strachan claimed that Boyd was trying too hard, quoted by BBC Sport as saying: “I can’t ask anymore from his training.”

He added: “He was actually trying too hard and I said, 'Listen, you don't need to do that', because sometimes when players try too hard, they can get frustrated.”

Scott McDonald in truth hasn’t lived up to his goal scoring billing either but his all round effort, quality on the ball and commitment to the cause won the Boro faithful over practically after his first game. Goals aren’t always everything.

But in Boyd’s case his clumsy touch, lack of involvement in interplay and general demeanour meant that his contribution to any side would seemingly only be goals but then again he hasn’t been helped.

Boro haven’t been as free scoring as the fans would have liked this season, having only scored 44 goals in 35 league games this term and until recently the midfield’s lack of creativity has often left the club’s forwards dropping back to get the ball or becoming isolated up top.

Known primarily as a poacher, Boyd never really ventured much further than the six yard box in Scotland and considering the dominance that the Old Firm clubs have in the SPL, chances were always in the offing.

The forward has shown glimpses of his finishing ability though, his goal against Sheffield United in August, which saw a rare win under Strachan, was a predatory run and shot that raised hopes early on for instance.

In the right side, with the right formation where he is not required to get too involved in interplay Boyd might hit it off, but for the cost to Boro to be both financially and strategically worthwhile he’d have to score much more regularly than he has.

The club’s quite perilous present position in the league and monetary constraints however mean that Boyd’s status as a bit part player was simply not viable considering his wages.

Mowbray has managed to bring in experienced Forest goalkeeper Paul Smith in as competition and cover for Jason Steele and Danny Coyne, while he has also hinted at bringing in a midfielder on loan as a result of Boyd’s departure.

Given that Mowbray has hinted that the deal for the Scot is beneficial to Boro financially because of a ‘discrepancy’ between Boyd and Smith’s wages certainly makes it sound like each club is paying most if not all of their respective signing’s wages which can only be a positive.

Opening the door to yet more reinforcements during Boro’s hugely important run towards the end of the season is a massive plus point and something that might help to add more of that attacking creativity that Mowbray appears to crave.

And at this point in the season when it seems like safety is the main objective as results have not yet mirrored the change in style that Mowbray has brought with him, Boyd’s departure could well be the master stroke that saves the club from a relegation dog fight.

A few goals at Forest combined with a rise in his value and an improvement in Boro’s league form could mean either the return of Boyd to a rejuvenated team or a big earner off the wage books and some money for Mowbray to spend come June.

Either way if Boyd bangs in the goals at Forest and Boro stay up no one will be complaining.

Also published on www.oneboro.co.uk

http://oneboro.co.uk/bye-bye-boyd-10-03-2011-355.html

Album Review: Clare Maguire - 'Light After Dark'

DEBUT: Hype queen Clare Maguire is out to impress

AFTER coming fifth in the BBC Sound of 2011 list, Clare Maguire has been backed by TV appearances, celebrity meetings and supporting roles on tour with Hurts and Plan B.

So her debut album ‘Light After Dark’ has a lot of hype riding on it despite the fact that her first single to come off the album, ‘Aint Nobody’, only managed number 78 in the UK singles chart after its October release.

The album kicks off with a 58 second introduction called ‘Are You Ready’, which ultimately consists of her adlibbing sounds without actually saying any words in something more like a cry for attention than a teasing sign of things to come.

Despite this the music kicks in with the catchy ‘The Shield And The Sword’, which immediately reminds you of The Eurythmics and Annie Lennox with that earthy yet soothing vocal and some bright orchestral chords.

A lovely violin backing adds drama to a heartfelt piano and Maguire’s deep vocal that builds and builds to a crescendo as Maguire sings: “You have the shield, I have the sword, I no longer love you, no longer love you.”

‘Last Dance’ then follows, which is her recently released second single, and immediately brings in those Sharleen Spiteri-esque adlibs before her superb vocal range takes the song onwards and upwards.

Inspired and written the day after her hero Michael Jackson’s death and the public reaction that followed, this track has a synth undertone and powerful drumbeat to mark it out as a worthy second release.

After track three however this album begins to waiver in an attempted 80s throwback that has as much synth as it does violins.

Maguire’s website bio speaks of the fact that a lot of the tracks on this album were wrote in a day and the lyricism as a result here leaves a lot to be desired at times.

Take ‘Bullet’ as an example as she sings: “I was told a dead man was heavier than a broken heart, am I dead now, my heart sure feels heavy.” Maguire’s vocal is comparable to many an old powerhouse, Jennifer Rush comes to mind during this track, but the songs just don’t stack up.

In parts ‘Sweet Lie’ again is lovingly reminiscent of that Spiteri emotion as a soft drum beat, stripped back piano and harmonies follow her gently restrained voice before another limp, ordinary chorus, as she sings: “Out of sight out of mind, what a sweet lie.”

A sincere lack of imagination and that fight and rawness that pours from her press interviews is distinctly lacking on tracks like ‘You’re Electric’.

Although it has shiny synth, thickset drums and a pretty harp it is just full of cliché, it’s crying out for direction in places rather than, “You’re electric, I know lightning won’t strike twice in the same place, so lets run away.”

Tracks like ‘Break These Chains’ and title track ‘Light After Dark’ again have that rangy potential but lack a cutting edge chorus or anything to set them apart from the ordinary.

‘Aint Nobody’ is a moody synth-clad bluesy affair that is more Mortal Kombat theme music than catchy synth-pop as the droaning chorus repeats, packing no real punch.

The album is rounded off by a strange sort of plea in the form of ‘This Is Not The End’, which has a deep orchestral backing, prayer-like sound and although sung pleasantly has no other function than to make you question why it is on the album at all.

At the end of the day Maguire has a magnificent voice and range but a lack of imagination and catchy hooks on ‘Light After Dark’ makes her debut somewhat hollow as it seems something to be bought more to marvel at her vocal than at her music itself.

3/10

Also published www.virgin.com

http://www.virgin.com/music/reviews/clare-maguire-light-after-dark