(Muso's Guide, December 25, 2008)
Single reviews
Reinvented, reinvigorated - Alesha Dixon lives anew since she won last year’s Strictly Come Dancing. Previously languishing in a sort of post-girl band Siberia thanks to the break-up of Mis-Teeq - and the breakdown of her marriage to So Solid’s MC Harvey, Heat fans - Alesha never quite made her solo career take off - until she put on her dancing shoes.
New album The Alesha Show was trailed admirably by pop single ‘The Boy Does Nothing’ in which Alesha channels the spirit of Lou Bega. Now, the follow-up which, in R&B terms, is as might be expected.
The video for ‘Breathe Slow’ starts with Dixon exiting a rundown building in a gloomy, slightly derelict street. No matter, she still exudes the sort of glamour which has not been seen in urban music for many’s a long year.
Wandering round a dance studio in shorty shorts, stretching occasionally, it seems that there is some sort of contractual obligation to the BBC (and their eerie “keep dancing!” motif) to make sure she is always implying the continued coolness of dancing.
Despite Dixon’s being dressed as a glitzy bunny girl in a diner, the image cannot distract from the music - what is, in essence, a fairly sanitised slice of R&B fluff.
Lyrically, it’s an old story - boy meets girl, boy wrongs girl, girl warbles about what fresh hell she finds herself in but keeps her held held high because “ladies never lose composure” - the last word being stretched over at least 10 syllables to prove her point.
As far as the video goes, it’s a sad vision of Dixon’s career on the skids, as she struts her costumed self down what looks like the main Vegas script… Oh, that is a fiction, you say? Well, good news - you’d find it even harder to retain composure shaking your ass in sequins, Miss Dixon.
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