What’s remarkable about Fleur East’s album opener, Sax, is not its similarity to Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, but that it seems bereft of actual sax. Maybe it’s low in the mix, or maybe they believe that instructing “you’ve got to play that sax” will distract us all from the woodwind instruments’ cruel omission. Sadly this X Factor graduate’s debut seems to have been made under the assumption that if the songs dazzle with bright lights and fanfare the public might not notice its vacancy. Having impressed TV audiences with her Uptown Funk cover last year (a version of which appears here), much of her material pedals a similar style. Whitney Houston and Chaka Kahn are also clear influences, while Over Getting Over is a monster of an R&B tune, a freaky, disco-influenced track ramped up on Red Bull. Her enormous energy cannot be faulted, but here lies little substance.
