Album: Gossip, A Joyful Noise (Columbia)

Higgins, whose Xenomania team are renowned for their work with UK girl groups like Sugababes and Girls Aloud, has managed to facilitate Gossip's transformation from rock to electropop with no discernible loss of impact – and more impressive still, without requiring any sacrifice of character on Beth Ditto's part.Instead, what's happened is a slight scaling-down of Ditto's approach, so as not to burst the hems of the more restrained arrangements. It's actually worked to her advantage: she's

Read more ...