Adult-Contemporary got a much needed shot in the arm last year when Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall broke out of virtually nowhere with the eye-popping ear candy that was her debut Eye To the Telescope. Helmed by U2 and New Order producer Steve Osbourne, Tunstall's Telescope was something that is all too rare these days: smart Pop-tune sensibility not dumbed down for the lowest common denominator.

Tunstall's heavily anticipated follow-up, Drastic Fantastic, finds Osbourne behind the boards one more time and behold, Tunstall makes good yet again. While it's a record that isn't nearly as instantly catchy or flashy as Telescope's brightest moments ("Black Horse and a Cherry Tree," "Suddenly I See") it does have its fair share of great highlights that reveal themselves fully upon repeated listens.

Opening tracks "Little Favours" and "If Only" are far better than anything the similar sounding Sheryl Crow has cooked up in years and tracks such as "White Bird" and "Saving My Face" even show that Tunstall is just as comfortable in a mellower acoustic setting as well, bringing to mind a female version of a Paul McCartney or Neil Finn. But what Tunstall excels in are tunes like first single "Hold On" that have that slam-bang pizzazz like "Black Horse" did. Here's hoping that Tunstall's future releases continue to steer more in this direction and not into that cheese-ball fluff territory because sometimes being adored by Adult-Contemporary listeners for too long can sometimes be the kiss of death for singer/songwriter credibility; just ask Sheryl Crow.