A Curious Thing Mercury **

She may have been barely 20 years old when her debut was released in 2007, but Amy MacDonald seemed to channel the musical chi of a jaded middle-aged pub singer. Unkind? Well, one glance at her supposed influences (Pete Doherty, The Killers), and such nondescript tunes made perfect sense. Her second album is a similarly well-produced but flavourless affair, the young Scotswoman's Dolores O'Riordan-meets-Sarah McLachlan warble driving these mostly uptempo songs to their disappointing conclusions. This is an album with mass radio appeal; spry pop-rock tunes with acoustic guitar backbones and big choruses that even your forgetful granny would remember ( Love Love, This Pretty Face). Yet for all her AOR inclinations, it's strange to note that MacDonald remains lyrically immature and inarticulate: An Ordinary Life'swoe-is-me discourse on the trappings of fame is both obvious and irritating. See amymacdonald.co.uk LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks: Love Love, This Pretty Face