Artist : Eagle-eye Cherry Album : Sub Rosa (Universal Music)

The debut album Desireless in 1997 put Eagle-Eye Cherry on the music biz map as a talented singer/songwriter.

Simple, fresh and melodic bluesy guitar-based pop, the standout single Save Tonight and other catchy numbers took Neneh's brother on a world tour as the album went platinum.

The follow-up, Living In the Present Future, was pretty disappointing with not much going on. More notable was Cherry landing a guest appearance on Santana's multi-Grammy winning Supernatural.

Sub Rosa appears to be a more mature and polished record, although keeping to the same pattern of bluesy guitar-pop. With the title meaning "under the rose" (for the idiom when something is said in secret), this album talks a lot about the change in the world after 9/11, with songs like Be Like That and How Come.

More mature, more polished, more upbeat, but it is not necessarily better. Not plain, and not bad, it is just not quite there -- not catchy and not memorable.

Pity, because he sure is a talented songwriter. -- Hera Diani