With so much fine music available today, do we really need a new album from 80's songstress Alison Moyet? Well, yes, actually we do - a new Alison Moyet album is always welcome to this reviewer's ears.

Alison's career went commercially south with the release of the Hoodoo album back in 1991, and she hasn't been able to recapture her former commercial success since. However, while Alison was hemorrhaging fans at an alarming rate, those who stuck by her were rewarded with some of the best music of her career; the aforementioned "Hoodoo", the brilliant "Essex" (1994) and the career-defining "Hometime" (2002). Quality control took a sharp decline with the release of her utterly forgettable album of covers, "Voice", in 2004.

Alison is back with her first album of original material in 5 years, "The Turn", which has been described by her label, W14, as being the album that "Alison Moyet was born to write and record." Fantastic for her - but is it any good?

Well, yes and no.

The album kicks off strongly with the cracking lead single 'One More Time', which acts as a brilliant warm up for the album's standout track 'Anytime at All' - a song of soaring beauty which showcases Alison's voice superbly. 'Can't Say It Like I mean It',  'The Sharpest Corner (Hollow), 'It's Not The Thing Henry' and 'A Guy Like You' are each trademark Alison Moyet, and are delivered with the passion that you would expect from one of the best female artists that England has ever produced.

The inclusion of the three songs from the play "Smaller", in which Alison starred alongside comic genius Dawn French, seems odd and unnecessary considering that these songs were heard more than 12 months ago; their placement on an album of new material smacks of filler rather than killer. 'Fire' is one of the weakest songs on the album and Alison seems to have forgotten to write a chorus for it.

Overall it's a strong collection of songs, and is a marked improvement over Voice, but you can't help feeling that it's all been done and heard before. Perhaps it's time for Alison to bring something new to the table to keep her remaining fans happy.  

3 out of 5.

To learn more about  Alison Moyet or The Turn, visit the  Alison Moyet Forum.

This review may be republished in unedited form.