WORTH A LOOK?: ****

It’s 5 months since Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui, better known as Loreen, won Eurovision for the 2nd time, becoming the 1st woman to achieve the feat.

• Read on for reasons including how this single raises expectations for a strong new album

Born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1983 to Moroccan immigrant parents, Loreen’s 2023 winning entry Tattoo was a song of the month for us in May and went on to become a number 2 UK hit while topping the charts in Sweden, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Is This Love? is a classy and understated follow up which, as former Eurovision commentator Terry Wogan might have once said, has a ‘whiff of the souk’.

An acoustic guitar is plucked, panpipes played and bongos beaten during a song that is more upbeat than its predecessor and fulfils the task of consolidating rather than furthering success.

It’s that ethnic sound, reminiscent of Madonna’s Frozen and continuing a theme from Tattoo, which establishes the Loreen brand and makes us think she can capitalise on her Eurovision win as a springboard to even greater success as Italian rockers Maneskin have done.

Loreen plays a sold-out gig in London next month as part of an 18-date European tour and management company TAP, who’ve been involved in choosing the last 2 UK Eurovision entries, have also signed her up which gives us confidence that she will maximise the exposure she receives taking part in next year’s Eurovision final in Malmo, on the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s win.

What enhances Loreen’s credibility is that in the decade between Eurovision wins she’s experimented with her sound and now she seems content to return to the path that has given her the most commercial success thus far.

We can’t wait for that next album we’d expect around May and look forward to catching her live in London, when we can get a ticket, and hopefully soon.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Loreen Tickets
• Have you seen a Loreen gig or heard 1 of her songs and what did you think?
• Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook