The resemblance is so uncanny you can't help pinching yourself or wondering if Dolly-style cloning has finally made it to the world of indie pop. Dressed head to toe in black and with the same blonde hairstyle and thin ice goddess features is none other than Nina Persson from The Cardigans.
Except it's not. The girl in question is a former Icelandic child star called Heidrun Anna and when she opens her mouth... out drift those same breathy tones that made 'Lovefool' so teasingly delicious. And, as if that wasn't bewildering enough, her male band (refugees from also-rans Smaller and a Norwegian keyboard player) bash out a slick Sixties pop that makes you think you've stumbled upon an audition for the Scandinavian Stars In Their Eyes.
Once you get over the initial shock, however, there's much more to Gloss than a simple tribute act cheap thrill. Where Nina can sometimes be a little too aloof for her own good, Heidrun has the red blood of rock'n'roll in her veins: bouncing, smiling, doing her best to live out her teenage Debbie Harry fantasies to the very limit. Which is lucky, because the band have switched to 'Union City Blue'. Right down to warming Hammond and "woah-oh" chorus.
So yes, it's early days yet and Gloss do still suffer a little from having their Cardigans one ('This Is All I Need'), Blondie one ('New York Boy'), Catatonia one ('My Heart Belongs To You') and St Etienne one ('Lonely In Paris'). But it takes a certain cheek and talent to stand within even spitting distance of the brilliance of Blondie and Heidrun has enough indie pin-up charm to have a nation of indie boys drooling into their weak lagers.
What will win the doubters over is Heidrun's ability to peddle melancholia you can luxuriate in. Every song has her being (cue wistful sighing) 'lonely' and longing for another from afar and it doesn't take much imagination to see how quickly her declarations of unrequited love will have devotees queuing round the block.
Indeed you can't help thinking that Heidrun's apparent nervousness isn't at the fact that Suede are in the audience but at the sudden realisation that being a lusted after singer could well be more than she bargained for. Oh well, too late now. Stardom awaits.
