UK Edition
Feeds
Having been dropped by Def Jam, and now heading up her own label Midget Records, the scallywag rapper is attempting to regain momentum with second album Jigsaw. At just ten tracks and 35 minutes, it's a brisk listen, but Sovereign wastes no time reminding us of her plucky charms, rhyming "Persil" with "Wurzels" on opener 'Let's Be Mates' and cheekily sampling The Cure on second track and lead single 'So Human'. She remains as gloriously frank as ever, with the latter referencing her stateside traumas in memorable fashion: "Trapped in the US, my accent is a giveaway, I need a bag of green to make it go away."
In fact, the album's first half is a bit of a blast. The opening one-two leads onto 'Jigsaw', perhaps the first let's-get-back-together song on which the protagonist apologises for nicking her ex's car, and a couple of electro-grimey party tunes that swagger like an East End hardman. "I'll fling you round like a discus," Sovereign vows on 'Bang Bang', and at this point it's hard not to think Def Jam were a tad hasty in letting her go.
Sadly, the quality control slips from then on in. 'Student Union' raises a few titters with its tale of "arty farty hooligans charging the bar", but 'Guitar' is pretty tuneless, 'Pennies' tries to be menacing but doesn't quite pull it off, and 'Food Play' is a cringe-inducing attempt to write a comedy sex song. These misfires can't help sucking the fun out of Jigsaw a bit, but thankfully they're not enough to topple it entirely. She may not be British pop's foremost gobby little madam any more - we have Lily now of course - but it's good to have Lady Sovereign back.
> Click here to read our interview with Lady Sovereign
