Cleopatra - Comin' Atcha (Warner Music) With the astonishing success of the Spice Girls, girl bands are now the coolest thing since Take That.
Cleopatra is one of the newest, and it joins a long list of groups touted by the press as UK pop sensations of the 1990s. The trio sounds like a female version of the Jackson 5, they even do a version of the Jackson classic I Want You Back. And these braided sisters have injected some soul into what is often a fairly sterile pop world.
They are definitely talented; 15-year old Cleopatra, lead vocalist, writes most of the lyrics, which thankfully, are not as contrived as many young groups' can be. The trio's harmonising sounds a lot like 1980s girl group Wilson Phillips.
This debut has a good mix of fun, upbeat tracks like Life Ain't Easy and Cleopatra's Theme, and sweetly sappy ballads like A Touch Of Love and The World We Live In. Another highlight is the puppy love anthem Thinking About You and the precocious What You Gonna Do Boy? These teenage singers; the youngest is 13 and the oldest 17, are definitely geared towards a teenage pop market, but they do show promise as R&B artists. At least they don't have to worry about their voices breaking.
