LeToya, Le Toya

LeToya Luckett's official biography omits the part about her being squeezed out of the band she co-founded, Destiny's Child, shortly after the release of 1999's The Writing's on the Wall album. It sold 12m copies; she opened a clothes shop in Houston. But biding her time before returning to music was an effective strategy: led by the Stylistics-sampling hit Torn, her solo debut was a US number one this summer, and over here it could set her up as competition to Beyoncé. There's almost nothing to dislike, such is its smartly coiffed cheeriness. This album has a voice of its own, nipping and tucking club tracks (the bad-girlish Gangsta Grillz is ace) and slouchy love songs (All Eyes on Me is surprisingly graphic) into a cohesive whole that reminds you Destiny's Child was a long time ago.