Album Review: Alessia Cara - Know It All

Firstly, this is a pretty excellent pop album. It is well crafted and should hang around all year.

But with inspiration borrowed from lots of places it feels like this seemingly unique young artist has perhaps been watered down in a lot of production styles (albeit good ones). We are still in a post-Amy Winehouse pop world and the brassy, retro sound can be heard on crisp opener Seventeen and via the "ooh oohs" of Outlaws. '90s hip hop flourishes are dropped in here and there. It all sounds rather wonderfully expensive.