On the record: Jack's back!

What's hot and what's not in this week's new releases.

By Polly Weeks

The time has come for last year's X Factor winner Alexandra Burke to release her debut album - but is it any good? Elsewhere, we have fine albums from two Norwegian acts, Annie and Kings Of Convenience, plus a handful of compilations to chew over. Christmas is on the horizon, after all.

Alexandra Burke - Overcome

The biggest TV audience of 2008 tuned in to watch her win X Factor, so you could say that all eyes are on Alexandra Burke's debut album. Winning the talent contest is certainly no guarantee of success, though. For every Leona, who went on to release the UK's fastest-selling debut album and cracked America, there's a Leon Jackson, Steve Brookstein and Shayne Ward to consider. Somehow, Alexandra always seemed too good to fail, and with Overcome she's got an album worthy of her considerable singing ability. There's current single Bad Boys and more up-tempo, Eighties-influenced pop tracks to go with it. Bury Me (6 Feet Under) channels Supremes-esque Motown, while The Silence, They Don't Know and her chart-topping cover of Hallelujah make up the obligatory ballad quota. As Simon Cowell himself might say, this one's got a bright future ahead of her.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Andy Welch)

Harry Connick Jr - Your Songs

Composer, pianist, actor and singer Harry Connick Jr is back doing what he does best with this album of covers, his first collaboration with big-time producer Clive Davis. But the 42-year-old, who wrote his own arrangements for classics including Frank Sinatra's Just The Way You Are and Charlie Chaplin's Smile, is pitifully let down by the orchestration. While his voice soars as smooth and rich as coffee on Elvis, Beatles and Elton John tracks, the accompaniment often sounds like lift muzak. A disappointment.

Rating: 6/10

(Review by Kate Whiting)

Whitney Houston - I Look To You

This is the comeback that we've been eagerly anticipating, but is it worth the build-up? Sadly not. Seven years after Just Whitney, and all her personal struggles, there's enormous pressure for 'the Voice', as we know the R&B diva, to regain her former star power. Unfortunately, her once-amazing vocals seem to be lacking in songs like Million Dollar Bill, Call You Tonight and Nothin' But Love. There's a hint of it in A Song For You, but it soon turns into another dancefloor filler, her voice obscured by heavy beats. The star credits on Whitney's sixth studio album are promising - Alicia Keys penned Million Dollar Bill, R Kelly wrote Salute and Akon offers his vocals on Like I Never Left - but overall, it fails to have any wow factor.

Rating: 6/10

(Review by Shereen Low)

Blondie - Singles Collection

So much is written about Blondie singer Debbie Harry's status as a style icon, the band's music can sometimes be overlooked. If Harry's look was original, the songs of the American outfit - who throughout their career dabbled in garage rock, glam pop, disco, reggae and rap - were truly one-of-a-kind. This double album features all the singles: Rip Her To Shreds, X Offender, Hanging On The Telephone, Heart Of Glass, Call Me and many more. Some of the later material you may not care for, but there's more than enough quality to maintain interest throughout. There's also two versions of Sunday Girl, one of which is sung in French. Debbie Harry. Singing in French. If there's a sexier sound on record, we're yet to hear it.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Andy Welch)

Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

While the band initially formed as a blues outfit in 1967, the tracks on this album feature more of their rock and pop output from 1975 onwards, when Fleetwood Mac achieved global success with albums such as Rumours and Tango In The Night. Over My Head, Say You Love Me, Landslide and Rhiannon all feature, as do Songbird, The Chain, Rumours, Go Your Own Way and Dreams. Go Insane and I'm So Afraid from 1997 live album The Dance bring the album almost up to date. There are lesser-known ballads for the fans and, of course, the hits for newcomers, making this a compilation suitable for everyone.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by Tori Mayo)

Alison Moyet - The Best Of: 25 Years Revisited

Possessing of one of the most distinctive voices in British pop, Moyet is also no stranger to 'best of' packages. This is her third. The self-proclaimed 1980s 'pop bitch' was once a chart regular, and even though her last top-10 hit came in 1987 - No 4 smash Love Letters - she still has a seat marked 'reserved' at the top table of the British music industry. Love Resurrection, All Cried Out and Is This Love? will resonate with anyone who remembers the mid-1980s, however the tracks which never were hits - the darkly majestic ballad This House and the elegant Should I Feel That It's Over - prove equally pleasing. Nominated for a Brit award in 2003, the additions since the turn of the century just about warrant a fresh reminder of her track record.

Rating: 7/10

(Review by John Skilbeck)

Annie - Don't Stop

After five years of label wrangling and false starts, Norwegian pop princess Annie's follow-up to her much-loved and grossly underexposed debut is finally hitting the shelves. Happily, it's everything that her fans have been hoping for. Girls Aloud collaborators Xenomania are among those taking up production duties, while Richard X contributes the majestic lead single Songs Remind Me Of You. This is an album packed with perfectly pitched electro-pop, atmospheric Eighties-tinged ballads and brilliantly withering put-downs - what more could you ask for? Hopefully it'll be second-time lucky and these songs will find the success and exposure they deserve.

Rating: 8/10

(Review by Simon Harker)

Foreign Beggars - United Colours Of Beggattron

Ever since Dizzee Rascal broke onto the scene in 2003, there has been a slew of young British rappers trying to make it in an increasingly crowded genre. Foreign Beggars have fared better than most - their members have collaborated with everyone from Bjork to Gorillaz - and this, their fourth full-length release, sees them trying to break into to the mainstream. Unfortunately, while the rhyming remains slick and original, their message often gets lost in a haze of over-production. The laidback Move Higher and bouncy Contact are undoubtedly the pick of the bunch, but there isn't really enough on here to sustain the attention for longer than a few tunes.

Rating: 5/10

(Review by Nick Howes)

Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence

Quiet Is The New Loud, the 2001 debut by Norwegian acoustic duo Kings Of Convenience, is, putting it simply, a stunning album. The gentle playing style, almost-whispered vocals and their deft talent for creating memorable melodies was one of the year's surprise successes. Follow-up Riot On An Empty Street went some way to repeating the formula, although lacked some of its predecessor's charm. After a few years away, during which Erland Oye, one half of KOC, formed The Whitest Boy Alive, they're back - and with a new album every bit as heavenly as their first offering to boot. There's nothing new here, but the day we get tired of songs as gorgeous as Mrs Cold, Boat Behind and Freedom And Its Owner will be a sorry one indeed.

Rating: 9/10

(Review by Andy Welch)

Ingrid Michaelson - Everybody

These days it seems hard to find a new artist who does not come with the handy 'as featured on hit US show Scrubs/Grey's Anatomy/The OC/House/Gossip Girl (delete as appropriate)' billing. Indeed, so universal is the claim that it no longer means anything. Although, in New Yorker Ingrid Michaelson's case, one could conclude that American networks are chronically short of anodyne, cutesy songs to flesh out their montage scenes. While there are occasional hints of an interesting writer at work - the odd melody or turn of phrase - mostly, Everybody is frustratingly one-paced.

Rating: 5/10

(Review by Rory Dollard)

Singles by Polly Weeks

:: Alphabeat - The Spell

The Danish pop stars return on a new label with a new sound. Is it as catchy as Fascination? Well, it's essentially a 1990s pop tune: pretty forgettable, but good to dance to.

Green Day - East Jesus Nowhere

US punk-rock legends Green Day return with the third single from latest album 21st Century Breakdown, their second rock opera-style offering. This sounds like a marching anthem and should go down a corker on their upcoming UK tour.

Mariah Carey - I Want To Know What Love Is

Yes, this really is Mariah covering Foreigner's 1984 soft-rock classic. It's a bizarre choice and yet somehow works well.

On the Road

:: Will Young releases his compilation album The Hits on November 16, and to celebrate he's heading out on a 21-date tour. Beginning at Belfast's The Waterfront on November 9, he ends up at the Brighton Centre on December 6. See www.willyoung.co.uk for full details.

:: American indie rockers The Flaming Lips are touring the UK to support new album Embryonic, starting with the first of two London dates on November 10 at the art-deco Troxy venue and then heading to Portsmouth, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham. Visit www.flaminglips.com for more information.