Lost in a Moment

Like Dido, Marlin's songs of chick-lit disappointment beat with a commercial heart; "What If" and "How Would It Be" are certain winners in the radio play department. A light melodic touch and a silky production skills pervades but despite the satisfaction of selling 1.8 million copies of her debut album, Marlin remains a maudlin young lady whose pleasantly uncomplicated tunes--think The Cranberries--are rife with apology, separation anxiety and sundry other lovelorn ponderings. Fame, then, will not change her credo. And on the evidence of such sterling work as "Hope You're Happy" (which sounds like a greetings card from someone with an axe to grind) and "Never To Know" (a grim cello and talk of loneliness and self-harm) Marlin is thinking with her head and her heart rather than with her bank statement. And for that she should be admired. --Kevin Maidment