Carina Round

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More About

• Carina Round
• Glen Ballard
• Alanis Morissette

People who try to change the ones they love rather than accepting them as they are typically wind up wedded to disappointment. The same concept can be applied to British singer-songwriter Carina Round. The Disconnection, Round's 2004 American debut, was a raw wonder, but because it racked up more glowing reviews than sales, Interscope hired producer Glen Ballard, of Alanis Morissette fame, to file down some rough edges on the album's followup. Thanks to his efforts, Slow Motion Addict is more accessible than its predecessor—and less interesting. Not that Round's latest is a total washout. On "Ready to Confess" and "Take the Money" (in which she pronounces "success" with the emphasis on "suck"), her strong voice and fierce persona still make an impact. Yet the guitars aren't as raucous as they should be, and the choruses are slicker than strictly necessary, drawbacks exacerbated on "Stolen Car," with its Avril-philic arrangement, and "The Disconnection," an over-orchestrated opus. Round can't be pounded into a square hole without something being lost in the process.