‘HANA’ sees British pop icon Sophie Ellis-Bextor reinvent her sound, with an undeniable streak of melancholy running through the album despite the fun, upbeat nature of many of its tracks. Since the artist is known for her peppy floorfillers such as ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’, it’s great to see the full scope of her songwriting abilities and that she is drawing from a wider pool of influences - the album is in fact inspired by a trip to Tokyo Ellis-Bextor took in 2020, with the title meaning ‘flower/blossom’ in Japanese. I wouldn’t say that she particularly blossoms on this release, as it lacks memorability, but it is certainly an admirable spreading of roots. LT

Out now on Cooking Vinyl