Gabriella Cilmi: 'Sweet About Me'

Fresh-faced enough to advertise Boots makeup, sufficiently talented to record her debut album with Xenomania, the songwriting collective behind Girls Aloud's brilliant run of singles, and blessed with the nouse to record the Echo Beach theme tune without asking to appear on the show, Gabriella Cilmi has everything going for her. Oh, and did we mention she's only 16?

'Sweet About Me', her debut single, is a typically smart Xenomania confection: authentic and retro-sounding, but, thanks to some subtle electro flourishes, fresh and contemporary too. Its melodic cuteness notwithstanding, Cilmi's lyrics are surprisingly bitter: "When you're playing with desire, don't come running to my place when it burns like fire boy," she spits. Most impressive of all is Cilmi's voice, which manages to be sweet and coarse all at the same time, much like a drizzling of honey on a slice of toast.


> Click here to watch the 'Sweet About Me' video