Lulu - Independence (1993)

Yes, if you cut this woman haggis and runny flora would spill out. Yes, she's more disingenuous than Mariah sharing a camera frame with another female. Yes, she is Lulu. As immortalized by Eddie in Ab Fab, Independence was the best thing she had done in years. The soulful rasp pledges various concerns about the risks of love in a patriarchal society. Lulu wants to have her cake and eat it, and throws up a mixture of piano-splattered house music. Quickly retreating into mid-tempo grooves that play it safe with a mild Rn'B flavour, There Has Got To Be A Way is riddled with cliches ("ain't no doubt about it, I can't live without it" asserts the HRT cock-hungry agenda from the start). Restless Moods and I'm Back For More are more of the same (the latter with added Bobby Womack). Her lovely version of the 1981 hit How About Us by Champaign is a crystal clear stand out. Seeking a younger and more contemporary companion to her new dance stride, Until I Get Over You cuts loose in the style of a fun and thrifty 53 year old cutting loose on a meddling mid-tempo riff. Reviving her 60s energy, Let Me Wake Up In Your Arms is a highly pleasant Chain Reaction style number with a nimble vocal delivery building up to a light and airy chorus that actually lowers cholesterol (not surprisingly it was written by the Bee Gees).  Spreading my attention wider and thinner than her favourite employer, You Left Me Lonely leaves me bored and Lulu's clearly skimming the personals in the Herald & Post again (looking for: nondescript, plodding, safe and something that ill go nowhere fast).  Rhythm of Romance is a slow dance to emotions less convincing than a birthday card without a twenty sellotaped inside.  I'm Walking Away kick-starts my attention again with something Lisa Stansfield might toss off near the end of one of her own albums, but is more of a limp to the finish line. A Place To Fall is sadly not an admission that she's a human mattress  and the closer is simply Let Me Wake Up In Your Arms (Romantic Reprise).

Rating:

7/10