Carrie Underwood: 'Some Hearts' / 'Carnival Ride'

Unless you're an American Idol aficionado, Carrie Underwood is probably the biggest star you've never heard of. In May 2005 this blonde, pretty 22-year-old from the small town of Checotah, Oklahoma won the fourth season of the world's biggest talent show, beating a hairy Southern rocker called Bo Bice in the final. She hasn't looked back since, selling eleven million albums, nabbing a trio of Grammys and placing a succession of well-constructed, honestly-sung country-pop songs on various US charts.

Now, nearly two-and-a-half years after her debut came out in the States, Carrie Underwood's two studio albums are being released in the UK. Fanfare is conspicuous in its absence, but you can't blame Underwood's label, Sony BMG, and manager, Simon Fuller, for keeping things low-key. Country superstars whose names aren't Dolly or Shania don't tend to do very well on these shores; neither is the American Idol tag any guarantee of UK chart success - just ask Chris Daughtry.

With the right sort of push, however, Underwood's music could find an audience over here - even if her some of her songs are a little dry and righteous for British tastes. Her 2005 debut, Some Hearts, is equal parts soft rock and country, with its mandolin and fiddle sounds often being drowned out by surging guitars and drivetime drums. The songs are anthemic and perfect for long, lonely car journeys, blessed with big choruses and bittersweet lyrics that anyone can sing along to, but they're also a bit old-fashioned. The title track, written by Diane 'Queen of Power Ballads' Warren, could have been sung by Belinda Carlisle 20 years ago.

Carnival Ride, released in the US last October, sounds a little more country, but otherwise it doesn't mess with the Some Hearts formula. Truth be told, Underwood's second effort doesn't feature as many top-notch choruses as her debut, but there's a greater sense of fun, particularly on the rip-roaring 'Last Name', a tale of a boozy one night stand, and 'The More Boys I Meet', which features the brilliantly dumb couplet: "The more boys I meet, the more I love my dog."

Solid rather than sensational these albums may be, but Underwood is consistently impressive. She has just as strong a voice as her fellow Idol alumnus Kelly Clarkson - check out the money notes on 'Wasted' from Some Hearts and 'Just A Dream' from Carnival Ride - and she really tears into these straightforward, often rather sappy songs about leaving home, learning life lessons, breaking up, following your dreams and keying your cheating boyfriend's four-wheel drive.

She's modest and likable too. When Underwood sings that she'd "rather be tippin' cows in Tulsa than hailin' cabs in New York City" on 'I Ain't In Checotah Anymore' from Some Hearts, only the most hardened cynic would doubt her. Whatever happens in the UK, these albums offer ample evidence why Carrie Underwood is one of only two American Idol winners to have translated the show's jaw-dropping ratings into something approaching jaw-dropping record sales.

Some Hearts

Carnival Ride