Peaches: 'I Feel Cream'

"Some call me trash, some call me nasty, call me crass, but you can't match me," Peaches raps on 'Serpentine', the opening track of I Feel Cream. Somehow you can't help but feel she's brought those accusations on herself. Her electroclash debut The Teaches Of Peaches kicked off with 'F**k The Pain Away', a smut-laden minimalist buzz that had become shorthand for filth by the time Sofia Coppola used it in Lost In Translation's strip club scene three years later. She upped the guitar count with Iggy Pop duet 'Kick It' on the uncompromisingly-titled Fatherf**ker, before following that disc with the still sex-obsessed Impeach My Bush in 2006.

It's perhaps inevitable, therefore, that despite the quality of her music, Peaches is often dismissed by the mainstream as something of a novelty act. That could well change with I Feel Cream. Soulwax-produced lead single 'Talk To Me' surprises with helium-high vocals and PG rather than X-rated lyrics, but its real achievement is managing to be catchy and danceable without sacrificing Peaches' spark or edge. The rest of the album, featuring input from Simian Mobile Disco, Drums Of Death and Digitalism, follows that lead. 'Billionaire' hits the point between fellow filth-merchant Princess Superstar and Christina Aguilera's 'Dirrty', while 'Trick Or Treat' shows that women are much better than men at mixing synths, sex and hip-hop.

Elsewhere, there's even a love song. With its sleek heartbeat rhythms and descending keyboard scales that wouldn't sound out of place on Kylie's Fever, 'Lose You' finds Peaches at her most swooning and poppy. The album's highlight, however, is its euphoric title track. 'I Feel Cream' is a wide-eyed rave anthem that offers a sweaty warehouse embrace to all the pseudonymous female electropop stars that have followed in Peaches' footsteps.

However, despite containing a generous smattering of dancefloor delights, I Feel Cream is no classic. Over 40 minutes there's a tendency for the mind to wander - even though the beats are consistently sharp and danceable. Still, for the first time Peaches sounds like an artist you could consider having a meaningful relationship with. You wouldn't want to introduce her to your mum just yet, but there's finally enough depth for more than a quick wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am.