The Orange Album - Stefy

It looks like Rufus (?) in the Eurovision song contest a few years back were right. The 80's are indeed coming back. The Pet Shop Boys Fundamental album was their most "80's sounding" since, well, the 80's themselves and Gwen Stefani's Love Angel Music Baby was stylistically an 80's pop album. It comes as little surprise then that in the track Orange Country on their debut album, lead singer Stefy Rae goes as far as to namecheck Stefani herself, as if aware that that's going to be the biggest point of reference for anyone listening to this album.

If this is all sounding a bit derivative, then don't worry. The singer can sing, the band can play, and they have a knack for turning out catchy pop melodies that will stick in your brain for days.

Lead single Chelsea starts off sounding whole lot like Eurhythmics but ends up being an electro-romp that is worth the price of admission alone (and please, check out the Adam West starring video) and whilst perhaps nothing quite matches up to this on the rest of the album there's plenty more hit singles to be found. Orange Crush is a hook-laden pop epic in the making and Cover Up will surely be all over MTV if it ever gets released. Just when you think it's getting all a little one-paced a piano based balled, Lucky Girl, sneaks up from out of nowhere.

Still, across a whole album there's just a little too much "homage" to old 80's classics and too little of their own style, although there is never a song that is anything less than catchy. Lyrically as well it can all get a bit "teen movie", although admittedy that's the kind of thing that suits these kinds of songs very well.

As for their prospects? Well radio-friendly, catchy tunes will do no-one any harm, and whilst it may not be the most imaginative and special record of the year there will be few debut albums this year that are as much fun as this. In lead singer Stefy Rae they have a front-woman who is every inch the potential star and she's backed up by a band who obviously know their stuff. Whether this will be enough for long-lasting success is anybody's guess but from where I'm standing, they've as good a chance as anybody.