9

A Charlotte of variety on this single.

Now that she is officially out of Ash, there appears to have been a bit of a backlash towards Charlotte Hatherley. Perhaps in part due to her debut record being viewed as something in between her day job but 'The Deep Blue', her major release since officially becoming a solo artist, hasn't really caught the imagination in the way that 'Grey Will Fade' managed.

Her T in The Park performance suggested there was no problems with her new material and new single 'Again' stands up to the best of her material, so perhaps there are other reasons behind the lack of support for the (still quite) young guitarist and singer.

The single itself is a bit downbeat; a lament about not being a great girlfriend but it comes to life with the addition of strings and striding military style-drums that wouldn't be out of place on an Arcade Fire record, behind the chorus. Theres a clever build of dynamics in the song and even though Hatherley is no better than competent a vocalist, it suits her style and the songs she writes. Not everyone can be the greatest singer but the tone and spirit that Charlotte evokes in her delivery more than makes up for any lacking or deficiency.

The acoustic version of the title track doesn't hold any great surprises but if fans caught her on her recent stripped down shows, this will be a welcome keepsake of the shows and places the song in a slightly different light.

The single release also adds in two remixes of Hatherley songs and they're of a bit better quality than the usual B-side remix treatment. The Fred Deakin remix of 'Dawn Treader' captures the spirit of a Chemical Brothers / Beth Orton collaboration merging the worlds of hazy morning comedown to the floor-filling rattler. 'It Isn't Over' follows the same path and perhaps its similarity to the previous remix hampers it slightly but again, its not too bad and probably better than what usually gets thrown up here.

So it's a review that's been at pains to stress theres nothing bad about Charlotte Hatherley, not by any means, theres just maybe not enough to really grab you by the lapels. Hang on in there though Charlotte, anyone who has been responsible for so many sprightly pop melodies so far doesn't deserve to be written off so soon.