Cher Lloyd album review

Sticks + Stones
3/5
It’s only been a year since Cher strutted into the public consciousness on ‘The X Factor’, wowing audiences with her cover of Soulja Boy’s ‘Turn My Swag On’, her vocals quivering but accomplished, before flipping into her now trademark defiant lip-curl. Her ballsy break from the overcooked covers of most ‘X Factor’ auditions earned her a standing ovation and the clip still gives us goosebumps. In hindsight it seems canny that she should choose a song that focused on fabulousity, a kiss-off to the ‘haters’, because more than any other ‘X Factor’ alum, Lloyd has dealt with a lot of flak in the past 12 months. She’s a diva and a brat, she’s fallen out with Cheryl Cole, she’s too big for boots, they say. The Malvern-born 18 year old has been largely defiant in the face of those ‘keyboard warriors with a licence to hate’, but even with a Number One under her belt (the diabolical ‘Oh My Darling, Clementine’-referencing ‘Swagger Jagger’) it still must sting. The Runners – her Stateside-recorded debut will do little to silence her critics. It’s certainly divisive, but it is unmistakably Cher Lloyd, and there’s some triumph in that.