Superficially "Beautiful Girl" is the story of the titular character than all the women want to be and the men want to be with. There an interesting choice of words when describing the latter situation: 'Boy after boy falling at her feet/Staring greedily at her delicate meat' which tells the listener that not everything is as it seems. The malaise from which the 'girl' suffers is ill-defined, leaving more to the listener's imagination. It gives the song an edge. Swirling synthesizers mix with soft rock guitars and a catchy 'uh-oh-oh' chorus would guarantee a hit in a different, better reality than this. The blend of electronics and guitars works wonderfully during "Bleed For Me". Who could have thought that Garbage could take similar elements and make something so dull? When this song leans towards the electronic it could be a colder, more remote, version of Swarf. At other times we're in the realm of female fronted gothic rock bands such as Flowing Tears, Within Temptation or Xandria. The fact that Lahannya can mix two genres in one song so seamlessly is testament to their talent.

The suffix of "Narcotic (2007)" suggests that this song has a history unknown to me. The pace is slightly slower than the songs that precede it. There are some wonderful wordless backing vocals which tell my brain to activate shivers in my spice (and what evolutionary advantage does that ability have exactly anyway?). Elsewhere synths burble to the surface of "Doors" swiftly followed by some rocky guitars. There's an 80s style of production on Lahannya's voice. In a weird way I'm reminded of early Bananarama, with the vocals drenched in reverb so they sound like they were recorded in a cavern. None of this is a criticism by the way.

Sometimes a band can use a sequence of notes that just makes you feel good to hear them. Such a sequence occurs "Rain". Things start well, with Fields of the Nephilim style guitars dripping with echo. Then there's an acoustic guitar solo - I know it sounds unlikely and maybe that's part of the appeal - just before the two-minute mark that works so well with the keyboards. It's gone before you've really had time to absorb it. It's brevity making it all the more attractive. If this album had been produced in the vinyl you'll need to change sides at this point. Mentally I do this anyway because the leap to "Charades" from "Rain". The latter has an 80s Space Invaders vibe with Lahannya sounding bored a la The Waitresses. A more contemporary comparison might be Robots In Disguise. There are still raucous guitars at times to keep fans of that sort of thing happy.

Lahannya's voice is buried in effects for the woozy "Losing Yourself (2007)". Imagine The Cure's "I'm Cold" with the vocals sped up and the music slowed down. This song has the same 'out of it' feeling as "Narcotic (2007)". It drags a little towards the end of its five minute running time, but all is forgiven by the arrival of the sprightly "Heaven". There are the soaring backing vocals again, which bring to mind Die Laughing or All About Eve. That feeling is further explored by "Roundabouts" which features more FX-laden guitars but is led by emotionally-wrought piano.

Just when you might be thinking this album was running out of steam along comes "Silent Victim" to save the day. Its mixture of banging beat and metal guitar is intoxicating, building to an apocalyptic climax. "Payback" brings things the album to a close. It's Lahannya's most emotional performance by far, though the line 'I am not a good girl' undercuts the anger expressed.