Pop review: Lauren Laverne

After the brazen confidence of childhood comes the tricky growing-up bit. For Lauren Laverne, leaving behind the punk-pop of her teen years spent in Kenickie to perform solo means having to deal with guitars that won't tune properly, strings that break and feedback that dampens a mood of melancholy fuelled by songs of love and heartbreak.

At least Laverne has always been older than her years. Although Kenickie specialised in energetic anthems to lipstick and high heels, it was with a wink and giddy intelligence. Since Kenickie abruptly ended in 1997, Laverne has dabbled in TV presenting before returning to the charts last year with Don't Falter, a collaboration with Mint Royale. Now armed with some new songs, she's back. "You can see by my horizontal stripes that I'm a bit of a risk taker," she says, drawing attention to her Blondie-esque, shocking-pink and black top, "and that applies to all areas of my life."

Including her music. Gone are the shouty singalongs of yesterday - here is Laverne does Dido, with a bit of Saint Etienne and the Cardigans thrown in. Her breathy, ultra-girlie vocals now adorn mellow, waltz-like rhythms. To Have a Home sets the tone, Laverne swaying to her brother Johnny's gentle guitar, her voice seductive yet innocent.

Then the problems start. Her guitar packs up and Laverne turns to a keyboard for a lullaby version of Don't Falter. When a replacement Gibson is found, Jack Klugman's Dream begins, repeating the chilled-out formula. And that's the real problem. Laverne stays in the same groove, straying just once for a bit of bubblegum pop, and after a while it all sounds the same. The only inspired moment comes with a cover of Whitesnake's Is This Love, the crashing chords and posturing stripped away, replaced by confusion and sweetness.

So it's lucky that Laverne is so entertaining. Chatty, cool and compelling, she's too astute to think the transition from indie kid to solo diva is going to be easy. "I don't apologise for any of my mistakes, they're part of my charm," she tells us. The attitude is still there after all.