Review - Nicola Roberts - Cinderella's Eyes

For those of you who don’t know Ms. Roberts (probably many of you – especially the Americans among you [hi guys!]), she is one fifth of the British girl group Girls Aloud (do you remember Eden’s Crush? Well, Girls Aloud was created on the UK version of that show). GA has had quite a bit of success in the UK (20 consecutive top 10 hits is nothing to shake a finger at [unless shaking a finger is your way of saying ‘that is very impressive’]), but they recently decided to take a bit of time off so they can all go their own way and do new things. Many of them have gone on to be very successful (especially Cheryl Cole, who you may or may not have heard of), and now it is Nicola’s turn.

To be quite honest, a lot of people (critics and fans alike) went into this album expecting it to be run-of-the-mill, obviously trying for nothing but top singles, and not really all that good. But you know what? We are all basically wrong. ‘Cinderella’s Eyes’ is, just a tad surprisingly, much better than its stupid name would imply.

I really must respect Roberts for going out on a limb here. The album is very different, showing that though she may just be one member of a girl group, she does in fact have her own voice and sound. I would really like to point out that so far, two singles have come off this album, and neither one has hit the top 20 in her home country. This does not mean that they are not good, however. Rather, Roberts took this opportunity to explore where pop music could go for someone like her.

‘Cinderella’s Eyes’ is fun and honestly makes you think – whether it be the musical structure or the lyrical composition. Nicola Roberts didn’t really have to try on this album, as she was guaranteed some sort of success no matter what, so I really give her props for trying something new and treating us all to a delicious little poppy surprise.

Listen to: “Beat Of My Drum” & “Lucky Day” (the strongest candidate for a big single on the album)