Another year, another child prodigy drops into the lap of celebrity. This year’s model is Andrea Ross. At fifteen she has already been touted by the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company as “the next big thing”. Hailing from the United States one wonders whether this talent is yet another precocious offering courtesy of pushy parents on the fame treadmill. Apparently she has been singing since she was three years old (haven’t they all) and at four she was singing in the pre school play (Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer for those that might be interested).

Her first solo album away from treading the boards on stage is a somewhat predictable selection of covers and standards. Heavy on the schmaltz and so damned sugary it makes your teeth hurt. The selection errs heavily towards the Ronan/Westlife covers to cut your throat to territory. It has to be said that for someone of such tender years there is a voice at work that while offering little in the way of originality does have some merit. Her takes on tracks such as Eva Cassidy’s ‘Songbird’ is passable but when in comparison to the original clearly struggles to hold a candle to its forebear.

For me personally taking this album in one sitting was something of a laborious process and frequent breaks were necessary to ensure I didn’t find myself losing the will to live. However if you find yourself stuck for a present around Mother’s Day then this should be found loitering in any number of bargain bins in the local supermarket.

If however you are of the terminally heartsick and can stomach another dose of the “classics” spoon fed to you with an unhealthy dose of sugar then you might just find what you are looking for. Anybody else however might find themselves wanting to avoid this one like the proverbial plague.