NERINA PALLOT I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING
IDAHO RECORDS
★★★
Nerina Pallot’s seventh album begins with promising strums of a harp-like fish flitting in a pond, but once Cold Places is underway, the hint of overfamiliar auto-tune in her vocals, plus the arrival of an ostentatious orchestra to guide the track towards its climax, suggest her time working with TV talent show winners may have got the better of her. This, though, is mere misdirection: the rest of the album displays her consummate songwriting craft across a variety of allied, more adult styles. On Born she turns to contemporary neo-soul, and The Way We Are pursues that soul angle with 80s synths and a suitably upbeat “keep on keeping on” message, while Mama suggests a passing fondness for yacht rock.