Epic
Pop, 2014

Cher Lloyd comes back much more mellow – or, depending on how you look at it, less annoying – than before. This effort comes out a long time after her debut effort, hence the title Sorry I’m Late.  If the non-performance of the lead singles is anything to go by, however, her former fans aren’t accepting the apology as graciously as she’d hoped.

She still has a tendency to force her voice into an irritating high-pitched squeak, especially in the more standard Avril Lavigne-like tracks where she talks-sings about many flavors of bubblegum or something. Sometimes, things aren’t so bad – songs like Bind Your Love and Alone with Me are even catchy and fun.

However, it is when she displays a more impressive range than mere high-pitched squeaks of a dying rat that she can be a pleasant delight. Human isn’t bad at all, but it is on Sirens that she transforms into an impressive… something else. A track about desperately living out the final moments of a doomed love affair, this one sees her singing as if her heart is breaking along with every word of the song. Otherwise cheesy lines become cathartic and defiant slogans on loving so hard that the heart shatters to pieces.

I carry the weight of you in my heavy heart
And the wind is so icy, I am numb
I carry the weight of you heading back to start
With the thousand eyes on me, I stumble on

The whole thing is a love anthem for those who refuse to stop fighting until the bitter end – and when the sirens are calling and the cops are here to haul the young lady’s lover off to jail, she’s going to lie there, stare at the sky, and declares that she doesn’t regret every second of the heartbreak.

Sorry I’m Late is a pleasant surprise, considering how much I loathed her previous album. Unfortunately, the improvements merely up her game to the same level as the other pop tarts currently cat-fighting for dominance in everyone’s heart. Sirens is a gorgeous song, demonstrating that Ms Lloyd can really shine when given the right materials. Too bad there’s only one of that song here. The rest are very listenable, but they don’t stand out as something everyone should sit up and listen to.