Track Listing

1. New I Town
2. Earthquake
3. Stuck On Repeat
4. Click
5. Remedy
6. Meddle
7. Ghosts
8. Mathematics
9. Symmetry
10. Tune Into My Heart
11. Hearts Collide
12. No Brakes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #150 in Music
• Released on: 2009-06-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
Electropop songstress Little Boots had the pleasure of working with experienced producer Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Kylie Minogue) for her debut album 'Hands'. With catchy vocal melodies and strong synth lines, Little Boots, who hails from Blackpool, England, provides the listener with a record suitable for any party. Includes the infectious single 'New In Town'.

Customer Reviews

Why slate Little Boots for what she's not, when what she IS, is this good?
Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that the Little Boots "backlash" has kicked off before her debut album has even reached the shops. In fact, let's be honest, it kicked off before her debut single had even reached the shops...and then blew up when New In Town failed to reach the top 10. The problems seems to be as thus; the BBC voted her as the Sound of 2009, she's quite a pretty girl and the height of her ambition seems to be to make catchy pop songs in a world where "pop" is still a dirty word.

Well no one seemed to pour as much vitriol into slamming 2008's "Sound" winner (the dull and derivative Adele) nor 2007's winner (Mika), nor 2006's (Corrine Bailey Rae) and if anyone can tell me that any of that trio are particularly inventive or ground breaking you will be lying through your teeth.

Of course half the journalists slamming her purely for winning that poll forget that it's partly voted for by their brethren, nor do they slate Florence And The Machine (who have two single releases under their belt that never threatened the top 40) who won that Brit award, which really is shameless publicity to the 'n'th degree. But silly me, Florence is a "serious" musician isn't she?

Well with that diatribe out of the way, what is Hands actually like? Well as far as I'm concerned it's really rather good. Obviously some tracks that have been knocking around for months (Stuck On Repeat, Meddle, Mathematics) set the bar pretty high but they are far from the only highlights. Having Phil Oakey duet on the shimmeringly wonderful Symmetry might seem like a gimmick but it not only works, but exceeds all expectations, Tune Into My Heart, with it's icy, mellow sound proves that she's far from a one trick pony whilst upcoming single Remedy is the sort of song that Kylie would kill her producers for.

And therein lies the crux. The pompous music snobs out there will spend the next few months telling us everything that Little Boots isn't (and crucifying her for it) rather than focusing on what Little Boots IS.

The solo credits for a couple of the tracks (Click, Ghosts) show that the choice of producers on the other tracks are just that, a choice and haven't necessarily been forced upon her. At least half the tracks on here are superb and the other half aren't half bad either. Jam packed with catchy and memorable choruses it will do little to convince those that think "pop" is a dirty word and those who kid themselves that "promotion" and "hype" are 21st century inventions in the music industry. Yet despite the hype, the pressure and the (perhaps) inevitable backlash, Victoria Hesketh has proved that all of those of us who kept the faith when all around seemed to be laying into her were right all along. She's definitely a talent. Hands may not be a perfect record, but is a very damn good one nevertheless.

What pop and dance music have been waiting for
Finally Little Boots' debut album has been released! As a long-term fan, in as much as I've been waiting six months for her debut, I already knew a lot of the songs on here - and was so pleased to discover that every track on the album is as great as I'd hoped.

Victoria Hesketh (singer songwriter and a.k.a. Little Boots) is a breath of fresh air to the airwaves. Her music feels modern and experimental, whilst at the same time there is also a definite nostalgia there for the pop rather than dance focussed synth of the 90s. Take the electronic side away and you get something fairly reminiscent of Saint Etienne mixed with Dubstar. Listening to the album as a whole for the first time it also brought back memories of the Human League, so when Phil Oakley's voice suddenly came in on the fantastic duet Symmetry, I thought I must have died because I suddenly found myself transported to musical heaven. This is a great album from start to (hidden track) finish. All the songs are catchy pop/synth numbers with some really great hooks to them, and I can see this album being really big really soon.

If you want to hear more of the tracks before you buy, check out the Little Boots website - as Victoria makes really great use of homemade videos. Not just that, but she's great live and treats her fans with the utmost generosity and respect. Strong contender for pop album of the year.

A new popstar is born, but something missing from this album!
There can be no doubting that Little Boots is extremely talented and her mix of quirky pop music is intriguing-the reason I give this album four stars is that there does seem to be something missing-individually most of the songs are strong, it's difficult to put my finger on what it is I find wrong with the album, but it lacks that extra special spark.

1.New In Town-The poppy uptempo lead single, good, but there is no deep meaning here. 8/10
2.Eathquake-This is where the quirky music really sets in! 9/10
3.Stuck On Repeat-This isn't my favourite track, it lacks something. 7/10
4.Click-This is a fantastic pop track, love the chorus. 10/10
5.Remedy-A great dancey track, Europop at its very best! 10/10
6.Meddle-This is OK, a bit of a watered down version of Remedy. 7/10
7.Ghost-Brilliantly quirky ballad! 10/10
8.Mathematics-A decent track. 8/10
9.Symmetry-A very classy duet, catchy! 9/10
10.Tune Into My Heart-The dreariest and dullest song on the album. 5/10
11.Hearts Collide-A fantastic ballad, Kylie-esque. 10/10
12.No Brakes-A pleasant if not exceptional way to end the album. 7/10