Brains, looks, a mum who used to present Blue Peter... yep Sophie Ellis-Bextor is all you could possibly wish for in a pop star.
She can sing too. In a deadpan, aloof, posh, Chrissie Hyde-meets-Debbie Harry sort of way. As anyone who has heard her previous outings with defunct indie-popsters theaudience and disco-house groover Spiller will tell you.
So, has our Sophie come to save us from brainless manufactured combos and Emma Bunton? And if she has, is she up to the job? Well, these questions aren't fully answered on this her debut solo album, a patchy pot pourri of disco, electro-pop and '80s soul.
Things start off well with recent single 'Take Me Home', Sophie's Spiller-esque, disco-stomping rehash of Cher's Seventies hit. And there are other moments of promise. The slinky, funked up disco of 'Murder On The Dancefloor' - co-written and produced by New Radicals man Gregg Alexander; the treacle thick groove and eerie synths of 'I Believe' - guitars, bass and production by Blur's Alex James, who also co-wrote and produced the seductive atmospherics of 'Move This Mountain'- and the string-swept, cinematic feel of 'Leave The Others Alone'.
Elsewhere though, Sophie's feisty, flirtatious lyrics of love, lust and cutting a rug suffer from lacklustre, largely forgettable 80s-style electro tunes - 'Sparkle' is a Depeche Mode lollop while 'Everything Falls Into Place' sounds like the Human League - if Phil Oakey had nipped to the cornershop to buy a Pot Noodle and the girls had recorded a song without him.
Not all bad news then but, despite its sophisticated sheen, 'Read My Lips' isn't as substantial as it would have us believe. Still bags better than bloody Bunton though.
