What’s extremely encouraging is that young Véronique has written most of the songs here and although I occasionally found some of the lyrics clichéd, the songs are beautiful and well-deserving of the radio play they are getting.

1. It’s About You – from the first strum of the acoustic guitar, you just know you’re in for an impressive album when you hear this track. It’s a lovely mellow song that warms your heart, complimented by tasteful string lines.
2. Never Far Away – a smooth r’nb track which shows Véronique’s vocal technique off wonderfully. Her voice is well-suited to this style and she really nails it with confidence.
3. Right Here With Me – reminiscent of The Corrs. A great easy-listening song that soon has you singing along to the chorus. Véronique’s vocals are stunning on this track. My absolute favourite.
4. Free (Da Da Da) – a reggae-style track which, despite its catchy chorus, doesn’t quite live up to the standard set by the rest of the album, I think.
5. Love Me Or Love Me Not – Funky! This song features an interesting, serpentine melody. I get the feeling that V has really explored her vocal ability here and, as a result, every rasp or pure bell-toned note is sung with conviction. There are no mistakes and it is refreshing to hear a vocalist who is so in tune with her gift.
6. I Must Still Love You (with Gift Gwe) – Gift’s voice blends with V’s very well, resulting in great harmonies on this track. It reminds me of Aretha Franklin/George Michael’s, “I Knew You Were Waiting”.
7. Closure – Heart-felt lyrics in this song allow us a peek into V’s bruised side.
8. Man Down! (ft Cee Rock) – another one of my favourites on this album. V does “girlfriend with attitude” well and even slips in a bit of rap. I was lucky enough to catch V on stage at an arts fest a few years back, covering the Moulin Rouge version of “Lady Marmalade”, and she pulled off the rap in the middle of that song SO well. You go, girl!
9. Goodbye – a real tear-jerker.
10. Spring Again – I played this song at the office, and the moment it started, other ears in the room began listening with great concentration. I believe that to be a sign of a good song. The dramatic musical arrangement underneath the dark vocals could easily be twisted into something Evanescence would be proud of.
11. This Is What I Like – Super funky track that had everybody bopping in seconds. The staccato vocals really work beautifully with the musical arrangement and this is one of the reasons I like to use the term “vocalist” rather than “singer”, when referring to V. She uses her voice as an instrument, a part of the music, rather than the cherry on the top of the song-cake. This song sticks in my head a lot.
12. Something’s Only Something – this song is purposely laden with all the greatest cliché phrases in the world (like, “out of sight, out of mind”, and “you never know what you’ve got til it’s gone”) and V has used them very well.
13. Tell Me What Is Real – Step aside Dixie Chicks…The V is on the airwaves and she’s showing you how it’s done!
14. Secret Places – awesome stuff.