Belly Up

Tanya Donelly's fourth solo CD Whiskey Tango Ghosts sees her move further away from the fuzzy indie-pop for which she is known. That the stripped-down sound pushes the magnificent Donelly voice right to the fore is no bad thing, and the album contains some undeniably pretty songs and a suitably haunting atmosphere. Yet despite this, the record is a disappointing follow-up to the lovely 'Beautysleep', ultimately down to the absence of the ingredients you can normally rely on Tanya to deliver above all else: killer choruses. It's an album that does grow on you after repeated plays, but overall I doubt if anyone other than already-committed Donelly devotees will have the patience to let things get that far.