Reviews / Album

Strong record from one of the hardest working in the industry.

A work in progress, but they’re rapidly learning their way around a contagious hook.

There’s no denying Clarkson’s powerhouse vocal and it’s put to good work with classics like White Christmas and Baby It’s Cold Outside, with fresh tracks Under The Tree and Please Come Home For Christmas catering to the sad and lonely. Thank goodness.

The last of three unnecessary live tracks, the ten inexcusable, repetitive minutes of Find Me A Lady are the last straw.

To mix it up slightly, The Sacred Burial Urn and Animate have some more angles and dissonances to them, to show they’re not entirely of another time.

Irony-free originals and jazz standards are also here: Dream A Little Dream with Lily Allen (pure, sweet), Minnie The Moocher (Williams solo) and new tunes Shine My Shoes and Go Gentle.

There’s nothing to dislike about Kill Devil Hill; it just sounded better 20 years ago, when it was released as Dirt by Alice In Chains.