This is hard to believe, but the warbling Georgian that is Katie Melua releases her new album on Monday.
First, before you disappear immediately, this is not a plug for the album. Far from it. And anyway, I very much doubt that anything I say will stop her third offering hitting the top of the charts next Sunday.
I guess I’m still baffled by the popularity of her. She’s apparently the biggest-selling female artist in the country and the question I have to ask is: why?
Among the least obvious attributes are her bland, monotonous voice, equally uninspiring songs and older-than-her-years attitude. Come on, we’ve all wondered what the difference is between 22 and 17, haven’t we?
Sure, she’s a nice enough girl and, funnily enough, she wasn’t beaten with the ugly stick when she was born, but that alone shouldn’t mean she has maintained a career beyond her 2nd album, should it?
What on earth do people get out of her music? “There are 9 million bicycles in Beijing…” – well, whoopee, what a great premise for a song.
And possibly the biggest crime she committed was duetting with Shane McGowan from the Pogues a couple of years ago on a new version of Fairytale In New York. Kirsty MacColl would have been spinning in her grave!
