Ladyhawke: 'Back Of The Van'

For an artist whose debut album has just gone gold, it's something of a mystery that none of Ladyhawke's singles has troubled the upper reaches of the charts. Hopefully this reissue of her first release will change all that, because, unlike some, Ladyhawke seems to have realised that what made Madonna so wonderful circa True Blue wasn't just catchy melodies and danceable beats.

Like the Queen of Pop in her early days, Ladyhawke combines the '80s pop-rock sound with the sort of lyrics and delivery that absorb the obvious pop clichés but somehow manage to transcend them all the same. And, despite all the obvious Fleetwood Mac and Cyndi Lauper comparisons, the keyboards that open 'Back Of The Van' and pulse throughout it are eerily reminiscent of the synth riff from Van Halen's 1984 hit 'Jump'. That, of course, can be only be a good thing.


> Click here to listen to Ladyhawke's B-side of the week