Girl sounds from everywhere

If you were to think about the combination of drop-dead good looks and hitmaking savvy from the Land Down Under, the first names that would come to mind would be those of Kylie Minogue and Natalie Imbruglia. Time now to add one more beauty with prodigious performing prowess to the list. The newcomer is Delta Goodrem, a teen-aged sensation set to conquer the rest of the world.

Like Kylie and Natalie, Delta started out as a model and soap opera actress on Australian TV. She was in the hit series Neighbors. What she really wanted to do though was sing, so she saved up her acting money to make a demo of her songs when she was only 12. Her efforts paid off and soon she was working on her first album Innocent Eyes with a stellar line-up of artists that included songwriter Gary Barlow (who was formerly with Take That) and producers Ric Wake (who worked with Celine Dion and Mariah Carey) and David Nicholas (who has produced for Elton John and INXS).

The result is a pop album tinged with rock but also with a strong classical feel. There is a lot of Natalie Imbruglia and Celine Dion in Delta’s style, but her songs are more personal because she co-wrote most of the contents of Innocent Eyes with various collaborators. The first number one seller Born to Try makes for a strong opening cut. Other strong contenders are Butterfly, which is my personal choice, Not Me, Not I, In My Own Time, Running Away and the title song.

Lene Nystrom comes from the other side of the world, snow-filled Scandinavia, and though she has only just released her first solo album, she is actually no stranger to the hit charts of the world. As part of the Danish group known as Aqua, she was one fourth of the phenomenon which came up with fresh sounding pop tunes like Barbie Girl, Dr. Jones, Turn Back Time and Cartoon Heroes some years ago. But big hits are never enough to keep a group together when personalities start to clash. So Aqua finally called it a day two years ago and after a much-deserved rest, Lene is back with her own solo album, Play with Me.

Lene, also a looker in an edgy sort of way, needs no Aqua to soar with her music. Play with Me is a funky feast with one infectious song after another. Pretty Young Thing is throughly irresistible. Bite You is a cute novelty number. Virgin Superstar is a youthfully-brash statement and Here We Go will send anybody grooving on the dance floor.

Alizee, who is only 18, comes from Corsica and is one of Europe’s biggest music stars. A dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty who would be described as a nymphet if she were in the movies, Alizee instantly came up with a big hit single, Moi… Lolita and Gourmandises, an album that hit number one all over Europe on her first time out two years ago. She has sold over four million records world-wide and is ready to be introduced to other markets like Japan, where she is a familiar face as an advertising model and the Philippines which might just take to her engaging combination of English and French lyrics set against a techno beat.

Alizee’s new album is Mes Courants Electriques… J’en Al Marre is the first hit single out and A Contre-Courant, a great dance track in a laidback sort of way, could be the next. Given the language barrier though, local listeners might find I’m Fed Up and the dreamy Amelie more accessible ways to get to know the young singer. And if you want to check out what made her a sensation in Europe and in the World Music charts, her first hit Moi…Lolita is also included in the album.

What scares me about these three new albums is that these might soon be buried in the deluge of releases by big name artists that usually come out towards the end of everyday. That would really be unfortunate because Delta, Lene and Alizee are outstanding artists who should be able to impart something new in today’s pop charts, if given the chance.