WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Tracklist: Where Do We Go From Here?; Feels Like Heaven; Weapons; Is It Love?; Can’t Pull Me Down; Melt; Wildfire; Coming Close; Set Me Free; Tattoo; Lose That Light; Kiss The Sky; True Love

It’s been almost 3 years since Loreen became the 1st woman to win Eurovision twice and, despite the wait, this album’s exceptional quality makes it all worthwhile.

• Read on for reasons including how this is easily Loreen’s best and most cohesive album

We last saw her live a year ago in Barcelona and wrote: ‘Tattoo leans into an eastern sound that has influenced later single releases and we would love to see form part of an album but, for the moment at least, Loreen appears to be happy pursuing rather niche side projects like the current team-up with SAGES and Olafur Arnalds.’

Loreen’s never been the most prolific of artists and, perhaps unbelivably, Wildfire is her 1st album for 9 years and only her 3rd since 2012, the year she 1st won Eurovision with Euphoria.

The good news is that Wildfire is certainly Loreen’s best and most cohesive album.

The slightly odd point is that many of the singles she’s released since that 2nd Eurovision win – Forever, Warning Signs, Gravity, Echoes and even Pum Pum with David Guetta – haven’t made Wildfire.

But, despite the momentum lost, the material that is here sounds like it should be part of the same collection and opens with Where Do We Go From Here? which perhaps hints at the heartache that has gone into this new album.

Loreen has co-written all but 1 of the 13 songs here with some of the songwriters behind her Melodifestivalen successes even credited on Set Me Free which perhaps lend credence to the rumours she was contemplating a swift return to the competition where she has known failure as well as success.

The title track (listen below) is perhaps the best place to start if you’re wondering what this album might sound like and it very much leans into the eastern sound that both early singles Tattoo and Is It Love? revelled in.

Feels Like Heaven is a terrific recent comeback single which is also included and is as focussed as some of her best songs.

Wildfire hangs together conceptually and is far better than we thought it had any right to be.

Loreen is a gifted live performer who tours this fall as gigs including 02 Brixton Academy in London.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Loreen Tickets
• Have you seen a Loreen show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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