Katy B, On A Mission

Poor Katy B. In 2010 the Peckham lass was hailed as the new face of urban music, only to be eclipsed by BBC Sounds of 2011 winner Jessie J earlier this year. Katy didn’t even make the long-list.

But unlike her fellow Brit school alumni Jessie J, Katy B (real name Kathleen Brien) is coming from a less in-yer-face place and is all the more compelling for it.

She’s at her best when mining her dubstep-gone-pop seam on tracks such as Katy On A Mission, Perfect Stranger – her collaborative effort with Magnetic Man – and the brilliant ragga-infused Lights On featuring onetime R&B woman of the moment Ms Dynamite.

There’s too much smooth funk on here for my liking, but it’s not bad at all.

3/5

– Alison Grinter