Cher Lloyd - album sampler mini-mix

Let's be honest, everyone was eager to hear what X Factor star Cher Lloyd would come out with. Taking the wise choice of not rush releasing her album in the immediate aftermath of the show and instead picking and selecting the producers that suited her, the initial signs bode well.

With a few album sampler mini mixes floating around, we took a listen to Cher's songs - If we're honest, it was an... interesting experience.

There's good and bad elements to Cher's debut, and it's definitely not the marmite love/hate experience many said it would be. No, Cher's album looks set to be a solid pop record, easily able to stand on its own amidst her contemporaries.

For the most part, the mini mix showcases a fun, playful side to Cher. It feels youthful, perhaps almost too much so - just as many critics targeted Swagger Jagger, a good deal of other moments on the album go dangerously close to tipping into that sickly-sweet nursery rhyme feel.

Cher may be a big Nicki Minaj fan, but the influence feels a little too overbearing at times - the heavily accented raps, the pace, the intonation; it all feels like a deliberate attempt to replicate what Nicki did so well on Pink Friday.

Cher is a talented rapper, no doubt about that - but she's also no Nicki Minaj. Cher sounds at her best when she's simply being Cher, not trying to replicate an artist that's already successful.

Dub On The Track is much, much better than I thought it'd ever be. When I first heard the title of the track a while back, I balked. Was this Cher, like so many before her, jumping onto the dubstep band wagon for a stab at credibility?

Ultimately though, the song ends up as one of the best on here - it's fast, exciting; and while that may owe more simply to the nature of the genre than to Cher itself, its danceability is undoubtable. Thumbs up on this one.

And after all - there remains the simple fact that Cher is still one of the most interesting, exciting characters to ever come out of the X Factor, and her music reflects that too. Individual, and with the distinct notion that the music she's made is the music she's actually interested in, it's a far cry from the early years of identikit ballads. And for that, Cher wins major kudos.