Charlotte Church: 'Back To Scratch'

"You were fundamentally too flawed to give what you received / And you believed I was yours to keep," she sings on the first verse, before trilling a chorus that's about realising, "at the dead of night", that you're going "right back to scratch". If you get off on Gav 'n' Chaz Hit Splitsville goss, this comeback single – "inspired by problems facing a close family member," so the story goes, "but the perfect song for my situation" - is really going to give you the horn.

But, but, but… don't let this obscure the tune's musical virtues. Co-written with guitarist / new boyfriend Johnny Powell - oooh, juicy! - 'Back To Scratch' is a sprightly little folk-pop ditty that trots along as elegantly as a dressage pony doing his warm-up circuits. The chorus grows stronger with every listen, while La Church's vocals are restrained, genuinely affecting and, actually, more Welsh-sounding than ever before. Back to scratch? Maybe – but also back to basics, back doing what she does best and, yup, back in business.



> Click here to watch the 'Back To Scratch' video