To be fair, Gabrielle has spent over a decade surprising both us and herself. It'll be 11 years this summer since her now classic first single "Dreams' put Gabrielle into the Guinness Book Of Records for the highest entry ever for a female artist making their debut. (The tune subsequently spent three weeks at number one.)

Sounds like a great time to be releasing a new album; especially one that's sure to raise a few eyebrows. Album number four, 'Play To Win' finds Gabrielle extending her renowned lyrical style into new musical areas. A self-confessed "pop kid", as much a fan of Adam %26 The Ants and Wham! as the heavy soulsters [Barry White, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder] in her mum's record collection, Gabrielle has this time allowed her penchant for sheer unadorned song-writing to take her away from the groove-dependant end of R&B, towards a more melodic, confessional blend of pop, soul and country.

Production duties on 'Play To Win' are once again shared by Gabrielle's favourite Dublin-based team of Stannard & Gallagher, and London's Jonathon Shorten."They know me so well now," Gabrielle explains. "For example, they know that whenever they play something new to me, they should always have the tape running, because quite often what I come up with on the spot is what we end up using - and I... er, have a tendency to forget my best ideas if someone hasn't pushed 'Record'!" Nobody will be forgetting 'Play To Win' in a hurry.