Little Jackie

Imani Coppola back for another crack at fame

‘Pack my bags and mount my horse, I’m gonna ride on into the next town…’ Remember Imani Coppola? Yeah, you do.

Legend of a Cow Girl was a massive radio hit some 11 years ago – go on, look it up on You Tube, we’ll wait - and she was hotly tipped as the next next big thing.

And then nothing. According to the interweb, Imani was dropped by her label, released a stack of independent albums that did nothing and ended up as a backing vocalist for Sandra Bernhard. However, she’s now teamed up with producer Adam Pallin to form Little Jackie. And Little Jackie are being touted as the next next big thing.

If the next big thing is pure, hook-driven pop, then those arbiters of taste may well be right. You’ll have probably already heard The World Should Revolve Around Me – if you haven’t, think Natasha Bedingfield with more talent – and that’s here, alongside 10 other tracks of similar catchiness and sass.

It’s the sort of music to bounce cheerfully around the house to, chanting along with the frequently witty epithets – ‘I'm a much better woman, did a 12-step program, and now I can drink again’ – and having a damn good time.

Stop and listen more closely and actually, it does get a little wearing. Moodwise there’s not a huge amount of variety here, there’s a distinct anti-men vibe – yep, we know we’re crap, but do you have to keep going on about it? – and the lyrical kookiness occasionally feels forced.

Given that she was previously dropped for not having enough hits it’s perhaps understandable that this time she’s delivered 11 potential singles but you might end up longing for a little variety.

They say: ‘Mixing sweetness with sass, The Stoop might just be Coppola's best album to date, and if there's any justice, it'll see her return from the margins to pop's centre stage.’ – BBC

We say: Yes, it should be a smash and Coppola deserves a break. But there’s clearly more to Miss C than this album suggests so it’s a shame that she doesn’t allow herself a couple of experimental moments between the potential hits.

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