Lady Sovereign — Jigsaw

Jigsaw

Midget/EMI

Ian Gormely (CHARTattack)

04/27/2009 2:42pm

Lady Sovereign stunned the U.K. grime scene when she scored a #1 Total Request Live hit with "Love Me Or Hate Me" in 2006. But after failing to follow with a second single and subsequently parting ways with Def Jam Recordings, many wrote the pint-sized MC off.

Jigsaw is a conscious break from Lady Sovereign's past. Along with being the first full-length on her newly minted Midget Records, the album is also a stylistic move away from the grime-inspired hip-hop of Public Warning. Though she still rhymes, Sov is moving toward more pop-oriented songwriting.

Tracks like the Cure-sampling "So Human" and lead single "I Got You Dancing" are fun tunes that will put butts on the dance floor. But like most of her last record, nothing on Jigsaw matches the energy and clever wordplay that marked Sov's early singles.

With too much filler and little that lives up to her past work, "the biggest midget in the game" is going to have to go back to the drawing board if she hopes to keep playing.

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