Candie Payne was four when she was uprooted from an idyllic suburb of Liverpool to 1980s pre-Guiliani New York. Hip hop was the sound on the streets, and this fast moving, multi-racial metropolis was a world away from what the young Candie and her family expected she would be growing up in. She spent her pre-teen years� roller skating around the landings of the many apartment blocks she was to move in and out of during this time in her life. We were always in Queens, just different areas of it; Jackson Heights mostly. It was a precocious talent for drawing that helped her bridge the gap between herself and her peers at the many different schools she attended. I wouldn't say I was shy, but I was very sensitive and quiet, so I just used to absorb myself in my pictures and the other kids would come over to see what I was drawing, and get me to draw things for them. That's how I would make friends. It was art that would remain her passion up until her late teens, right through her permanent move back to Liverpool in the early 90s- From block-rockin beats to smiley culture. Toughened up by her formative years in the Big Apple, Candie returned a more confident and outspoken character.

It was in her early teens that the music which had so far permeated her everyday life via her musical family began to gain real interest for her. My mum and dad have always had fantastic records, Artie Shaw, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, any of the greats you could name, and they were always on. Aside from her parents quality taste in music, there were her elder brothers record collections to broaden her listening spectrum even more, bands like The Who, Nirvana, The Byrds and Jimmi Hendrix. And of course the obligatory tea making duties of a little sister as her brother made demos in his bedroom. Her reward? Committing her very own versions of 'Norwegian Wood' and 'A Day In The Life' to tape.

Fast-forward through a teenage happy hardcore rave phase, and Candie's ambitions still lay in the art-world, particularly fashion design. So much so that she was already designing and making clothes for herself and her friends as a sideline to her exams. This enthusiasm continued until an ill-fated and short-lived spell on an art foundation course left her disillusioned and re-thinking her long held dreams of a career in the art-world. I was totally directionless, I knew I wanted to do something creative, I just didn't know what, so I made a conscious decision to be open to any opportunities that came my way. And these proved to be many, due to a plum job landed in the trendy vintage clothes shop Resurrection in the centre of Liverpool, with all the bands, dj's, photographers, movers and shakers passing through for jeans and stopping for coffee to exchange records or gossip, It was in this environment that my interest in music stepped up a gear, and my lifestyle began to reflect that. It was in that shop that I heard bands like Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, and The Metres for the first time; records I may not have heard otherwise. To me, those years spent working in Resurrection were as formative in musical terms as hustling on and off subways in New York was character building.

So in between the modelling, illustration and other sideline offers that she dabbled with, Candie first dipped her toe in the musical waters with a rendition of the Dolly Parton classic 'Jolene,' performed with local heroes Tramp Attack. The word spread and she was quickly headhunted by ex-Stairs lead man Edgar Jones to front his new project, and honed her skills in earnest for the best part of a year. A change of direction in the band and Candie jumped off at the next stop, which was little more than the occasional turn with a Liverpool based jazz band. However, fate was to intervene when Bandwagon lynchpin and long time friend Gary Bandit, introduced her to producer Simon Dine, who happened to be looking for a singer to co-write with. A rough demo and a clutch of hand written verse later, and Candie and Simon set to work in the studio on what was soon to become the debut album.

So how does Candie Payne sound?

The title track blasts off in confidant style, with an incessant melody and pounding drums and a soaring vocal. Next, 'Why Should I Settle For You' draws you into one of the albums many dark corners. Such as 'A Different You', a big brash epic all booming drums and syncopated percussion that makes Candies love lost lyrics sound all the more fragile and beautiful. At the other extreme 'By Tomorrow' canters along like a three-minute white knuckle horse back ride. And 'Hey, Goodbye' beefs up Candies sixties sound to the point where is sounds like a train is coming.

Make no mistake this album is trenchantly modern, updating the sonic and stylistic tricks of decades past. There is a fresh and spontaneous sound to this record that stems largely from this 24 year olds passion for singing, music and recording. She recently recorded a selection of songs from the soundtrack to Bugsy Malone, just for the fun of it and 'because they are amazing songs, and taken out of the context of the film, they stand alone as classic tunes.' Look out for them on future b-sides.

In all, 'I Wish', evokes Dusty in the daisy age, an air of Francoise Hardy, Nancy Sinatra, John Barry, or Scott Walker with a warped modern approach not dissimilar to that of Aphex Twin or the Wu Tangs' RZA. Her furious girl meets boy kitchen pop songs recall late sixties British cinema or a Smiths single sleeve. 'It's pop music on the surface, in the sense that it's catchy. But there is an underlying eeriness and even loneliness. These songs are trying to communicate the thoughts and feelings that go through your head when you're struggling in a relationship, the things that you might not be ready to say out loud yet. And they are very personal to me. I felt I could only write and sing about things I knew a little bit about.'