Alison Moyet - "Key": A second look at her hits

Essex singer marks four decades out on her own

To celebrate 40 years as a solo artist, Alison Moyet decided to take a second look at her catalogue post-Yazoo and reimagine hits and deep cuts through a modern lens.

Although Key possesses some lovely moments - an intrigue- filled Fire, the gothic synth-pop of My Right A.R.M., a tender World Without End - many of these re-dos possess a curious lack of energy. 

Despite zippy modern synths, Where Hides Sleep is now plodding and dirge­like instead of a luxurious ballad, while thin-sounding synths diminish the desperate urgency of the 1984 hit All Cried Out. 

Of the album’s two new songs, the exquisite The Impervious Me, which possesses the lightness of early Kate Bush, is best. In the end, though, Key underscores that sometimes first takes are the best.