Rebecca Ferguson: Freedom – review

Rebecca Ferguson has the kind of voice that could make a party election manifesto sound sincere. The lyrics she has written for her second album aren't especially revealing of the "troubles" and "pain" that inspired them; what does feel explicit is the vulnerability and raw emotion of their expression. Where her 2011 debut, Heaven, was rooted in vintage soul, Freedom looks to the dance floor: big piano chords and a four-to-the-floor beat thump through opener I Hope; We'll Be Fine generates the same generic swirly euphoria as every suburban disco anthem produced since 1985. Most songs snag on an ill-advised musical embellishment: car-advert strings in All That I've Got, an ungainly guitar solo that disrupts the elegant piano hook of My Freedom. Nothing detracts from that voice, though, from its genuine, solicitous expression of uplifting sentiment. And when Ferguson is offset by reflective piano chords in Freedom, syncopated drumming in Fake Smile, or the gossamer romanticism of I Choose You, she soars. "I'm not there, but give me time," she sings on Wonderful World. Absolutely.