Estelle: 'Shine'

Until a couple of weeks ago, Estelle Swaray seemed destined to remain the critical darling who never quite broke into the mainstream. She attracted plenty of hype back in 2004, especially when the nostalgic, Mel and Kim-referencing '1980' became a moderate hit, but her 18th Day album failed to tempt the record-buying public, stalling at #35. Even after she signed to John Legend's HomeSchool Records, relocated to the States and cut a single with Will.i.am, chart success proved elusive, with the stuttering, horn-driven 'Wait A Minute' peaking outside the top 100 back in November. Then, just in the nick of time, came 'American Boy'. A first-rate piece of discofied urban pop, featuring Kanye West rapping about "WAGS" and rhyming "bespoke" with "London bloke", it's currently the UK's number one single.

Post 'American Boy', a new question arises: does Estelle have the cracking album to back up her chart-topping success? With production from ten of the best knob-twiddlers (John Legend's) money can buy, including Wyclef Jean, Will.i.am and Mark Ronson, Shine certainly sounds slick enough. Taking in everything from party dancehall ('Magnificent') to fabulous Motown redux ('Pretty Please'), with a couple of Lauryn Hill-style soul workouts in between ('No Substitute Love', 'So Much Out The Way'), it doesn't lack ambition, either. Though nothing rivals 'American Boy' for instant appeal, there are plenty of great songs here, especially the languid, jazzy 'More Than Friends' and jagged, dramatic 'So Much Out The Way'.

Despite the smooth, American-sounding production, Estelle's gritty Englishness isn't entirely erased. She outlines her personality neatly on the swaggering opener, 'Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)', coming off both flirtatious and feisty as she tells her man to "wrap it up" because she "ain't carryin' his embryo". Elsewhere, 'Shine' references her West London upbringing, albeit less memorably than '1980' did, and 'Magnificent' is a fierce statement of romantic intent: "I ain't dealing with no half-wit boy just 'cause he makes me smile."

Sadly, for all its merits, Shine has an achilles heel, slipping into midtempo blandness around two-thirds through. We're left wondering, 'What's happened to Estelle's sass?' until Cee-Lo turns up for the joyous, Motown-inspired 'Pretty Please', the album's penultimate track. This barren patch doesn't sink Shine entirely - there's too much to admire here for that - but it does sap its momentum. Very few artists are capable of spreading their personality across an entire album these days, especially when they've got ten different producers shaping their sound. Sadly, at this stage in her career, Estelle isn't one of them.