Valerie Francis

Valerie Francis, Slow Dynamo, VF. Rating: 3.5/5

Francis is an Irish singer-songwriter who came to prominence recently when Kanye West blogged about the video for her song 'Punches'. "I may be a slow dynamo, but I get there in the end," she sings on the title track, and that sense of sweet lethargy makes this record quite the grower. There's a melancholic tenderness at work throughout, tales of loss shot through with an autumnal breathiness. A couple of tracks fall flat, but 'Cannonball', 'Like Glue' and the beautiful 'Trees' string the album together after the opening double highlight of the title track and 'Punches'.

Download: 'Slow Dynamo', 'Punches', 'Trees'