First track ‘I Cried For You’ is typical Katie Melua, sounding deliciously sweet with her guitar providing a sweet and effortless backdrop to her vocals as they float through the track, rising gently to grab your attention.

The second song is a cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’, which is also the title track from the forthcoming movie of the same name. Not a plug, just had the unfortunate luck of seeing the trailer a few hundred times. To be honest, I generally dislike covers. They’re done by lazy people cashing in on someone else’s talent and rarely sound anything near as a good as the original although once in a while somebody makes the song they’re own. Anyone heard Metallica’s version of ‘Seven Nation Army’? Miss Melua makes this hers. It becomes a tender little song, gently tugging at your heart strings and while ilacks the personality of the original, it’s easy to forgive.

Katie’s strength, as everyone should know, is her voice. She could sing you a shopping list and have people crying and not just in a sad way.

Surprisingly both tracks are from Katie’s new album Piece By Piece, which you have to admit, is fairly rare for a major recording artist. Normally they try and release everything as a single to grab some more sales. 

Despite the selfless act (I assume so) of releasing these two tracks as a double a-side both have a very similar vibe. To your casual listener they might not distinguish the two and presumably that’s who this will be aimed at. Perhaps swapping one of the tracks for something more notable would have been a better idea. Regardless, this is chocolate for the ears.

(3½/5)

Release Date: 05 December 2005

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