Album Reviews / Pop

Imbruglia’s past life as an Australian soap opera queen smacks uncomfortably of teen stars (Alanis, anyone?) reincarnated as angsty rockers. But Imbruglia dispels doubts with a smoky, believable voice tinged with just enough real-life ambivalence and anger. Producer Phil Thornalley’s talent for conjuring beats with attitude doesn’t hurt either. A good pop record to break up to.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).