Heaven Syco Music***

There's a good reason why Rebecca Ferguson had her album held back an entire year after her participation in The X Factor: Heavenis the sort of unapologetically sentimental album that's tailor-made for stuffing Christmas stockings. The Liverpudlian singer is being pitched as the new Duffy, and it's easy to draw parallels between the likes of Warwick Avenueand the soul balladry of Diamond to Stoneand Glitter & Gold. Elsewhere, Ferguson undertakes finger-snapping and shoulder-shaking sass on the funky Fighting Suspicion, borrows from Adele on the authoratitive Shoulder to Shoulder, and imitates Corinne Bailey-Rae's soul-pop at various junctures. And therein lies the problem with Heaven– comparisons with superior artists are just too blatant to ignore. It certainly could have been worse, but it definitely should have been better. See rebeccaferguson.com

Download tracks: Shoulder to Shoulder, Fighting Suspicion