Rating : N Rating: N

Cher Lloyd can obviously sing, having placed fourth in Britain’s The X Factor largely because of her pipes. Shame, then, that on her second album she often abandons her fluid vocals for squeaky Ke$ha sing-speaking, petulant Avril whine-shouts and unconvincing rapping. She did the latter a lot on X Factor, too.

Over brash, clubby, radio-ready beats, Lloyd musters a number of pop platitudes: “Everything you see that glitters isn’t always gold” she wails on Human, for example. On Dirty Love, she’s sick of all the good boys and craves a bad one.

Lyrics aside, sometimes you think Lloyd would make a darn good country singer, with her almost Partonesque high trill on Sirens and, especially, Goodnight. Too bad the songs sound so incongruous with the rest.

M.F.P.O.T.Y (“motherfucking party of the year” ) is downright ridiculous, even for a 20-year-old. “Kee-eeep it all in your pants, bo-ooy,” Lloyd croons. Good grief.

Top track: Sirens