Leona Lewis: Glassheart – review

"Can you turn the music up a little bit, please?" Leona Lewis coyly asks producer Darkchild at the start of track seven, Shake You Up. You find yourself agreeing, because for once Lewis has made an album that's worth turning up – in parts, at least. It's never been in her remit to be interesting – she's a safe pair of hands at representing Britain abroad, but never produces anything unexpected. But something has changed in the three years since her second album, and she's found the junction where her powerhouse voice blends with elements of dubstep and house. Granted, much of the record is still given over to quaking ballads like Fingerprint – an area where Adele now has the advantage – but several tracks demand attention. Come Alive is electronic mood music, grumbling away to itself as her disconsolate vocal entwines with dubstep throbs; the title track is mood-elevating house with an abrasive grime heart, and Trouble winningly combines hip-hop and an emotional relationship-breakup lyric. Surprisingly fine.