So, you walk out of a girl group before they hit the big time. What next? Wear as few clothes as possible and accept the latest track to be rolled off the pop production line? Or take some time out and let the music come back to you? As the group Siobhan Donaghy walked out of was the achingly credible - by pop standards - Sugababes, the first option was never really likely.
So here we are two years down the line and while the 'Babes now have the chart-toppers under their skinny belts, they still have continual column inches dedicated to their supposedly imminent implosion. Donaghy has no such worries now. And her debut album shows as much.
It's mostly refined, sophisticated pop, as might be expected, with Donaghy's undeniably powerful voice sitting centrally in the mix, never overbearing but never understated. The gently skittering beats are reminiscent of TLC's laidback soul-pop but there are twists and turns thrown to avoid the album sounding one-dimensional.
There is scratching aplenty, plus snatches of audience noise on the opening 'Nothing But Song', discordant trumpet stabs and swirling strings on 'Little Bits' and a xylophone plinking merrily in the background on 'XY', which nails a first by using chromosomes as a metaphor for a relationship.
'Twist Of Fate' leaves behind the beats for close on five minutes of pure radio-friendly pop-rock with a naggingly catchy chorus, while a steel drum livens-up the otherwise sparse 'Faces'. The middle of the album at times suffers at times from being too one-paced, with Donaghy left virtually alone to carry interest, meaning the electric guitar and heavy drums of 'Dialect' are more than welcome.
Lyrically, the album covers the expected ground - taking stock of life, controlling your destiny and searching for support. If anything, the album's laidback mood at times dilutes the acidity of the words too much. 'Man Without Friends' features the line "I start to unravel in my mind" over the most soothing, lilting guitar lines while on the gentle 'Little Bits' she proclaims "Nothing's sacred, we are scarred".
While 'Revolution In Me' is unlikely to prove as much of an epiphany for anyone else as it is for its author, it's refreshing to see Donaghy take the road less trodden. It's unlikely to put her at the top of the charts but then one suspects that was never really the point. More power to her for making a debut that shows flashes of real intelligence and inspiration instead of going for the cheap thrill.
