N-Dubz: Against All Odds

If a new wave of British urban music is upon us, N-Dubz are at its populist crest. Their second album, sleekly produced but surging with energy, takes its cues from UK garage, R&B and Euro-dance. Recently rumoured (falsely) to be working with Kylie, the Camden-based trio are equally capable of working with Wiley, the elder of the grime music scene who voices his approval on "Na Na". They are manifestly a pop act, so it is refreshing that N-Dubz don't retract their claws, lyrically, and their unexpurgated narratives – of street life and romantic complication – benefit from the interplay of male and female viewpoints.