IT DOESN'T matter if you remember the Pipettes or not, as there is no trace of their doo-wop revival style in former member Rose Elinor Dougall's second album, which instead brims with high end pop and sumptuous indie.
In her own words Stellular is ”something bolder, less apologetic, more decisive...a sophisticated pop record” - and despite blowing her own trumpet, Dougall is spot on in this description. Opening track 'Colour Of Water' begins in a swirl of chiming guitar notes and synths, Dougall's beguiling voice sounding bold and authoritative, it builds into an indie-pop tour de force, and will rank as one of the songs of 2017.
It's a hard act to follow, and not all the tracks work, but the warped riff and off-kilter rhythms of 'Strange Warnings', along with the melodic delights in Dougall's vocals, lives up the standard. Indeed, the album's lush keyboard sounds, Dougall's knack for writing choruses both catchy and clever - check 'Answer Me', where the tasteful jazz piano only adds to the quality - show eighties New Pop animates much, if not more, of the album, than indie-pop, without the whole endeavour becoming a retro exercise.
Indie-pop though has the final word on 'Wanderer'. Built around haunting piano chords, Dougall delivers perhaps her most inspired melody and vocal performance. An exciting new English pop talent has fully arrived.
