Jessica Simpson: "A Public Affair"

Jessica Simpson is more famous for selling her marriage to Nick Lachey to reality TV, frequenting the tabloids and making the odd movie than she is for her previous four albums.

And this fifth effort, a sort of post-marriage analysis, is unlikely to establish the admittedly gifted singer as a serious artist.

It borrows heavily from other artists, either sampling or straightforward covers: Madonna's Holiday on single Public Affair, a sultry cover of Dead or Alive's You Spin Me Round, a version of Walkin' Round in a Circle which was popularised by Ryan Adams, not to mention nods to The Dixie Chicks, Patti Griffin and Diana Ross.

Still, there are plenty of radio-friendly singles on here, such as B.O.Y. and Fired Up, while the 80s disco beats make it a decent hen night soundtrack. It's the ballads that drag it down - while Back To You show off Jessica's wonderfully powerful vocals, it sounds incredibly dated, as does Between You And I, which is basically the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody with Jessica's voice laid on top - it's just not very 2007.

Jessica's clearly besotted with Madonna circa 1986, which makes A Public Affair more of a tribute album than anything new. Let's hope she finds her own personality in time for the next record.

Release Date:

12/02/2007