Siobhan Donaghy was in the Sugababes, a "multi-ethnic U.K. trio" full of sass, attitude, and syrupy ballads. Their debut married raw production sounds and sophisticated vocal arrangements that guaranteed them cross-genre appeal; indie, pop and RnB fans alike took notice. Donaghy stood out since she obviously didn't quite belong: she was petulant and moody with an icy thousand-yard stare and a gilded voice. Then she left in 2001, missing out on the Sugababe's breakthrough single "Freak Like Me" and UK chart supremacy.

Two years of silence followed until the low-key Revolution In Me (2003). Ignored at the time as a pop-artist-gets-serious-by-numbers, it was a subtle musical triumph. It had the nous to milk the bass lines that once typified Massive Attack's encroaching deployment and the kind of choruses most bands would kill for. Still, she seemed uncomfortable and oddly distant. The video to lead single "Overrated" showed her stumbling dead-eyed through a maelstrom of parties and clubs, looking lost and faintly bored. Unfortunately, when neither album nor single seemed to ignite the charts, she was again without a home and dropped by London Records. Now, she's back with her new album, out in June, and she is seemingly much more involved in her music. The florid, sumptuous comeback "Don't Give It Up" is a sublime pop marvel melding an emotive falsetto Goldfrapp choir in the chorus to an organic laid-back RnB verse; however, it's title track "Ghosts" that really shows off her newfound voice.

The opening chimes and stuttering Fairlight evoke the innocence and wide-eyed wonder of Debut-era Björk; Donaughy's vocals swoop in like whispering spectres. Long-gone are the faux-soul gesturing and deadpan delivery; here she sounds like a madrigal singer fighting against gales. Her heart is in her throat but the melody is assured, wilful, and as lyrically impenetrable as the Cocteau Twins. Warped murmuring backing vocals circle her feet like growling wolves. Suddenly the chorus unfurls, nodding both to Kate Bush and Boards of Canada simultaneously.

She has embraced her outsider role but she's worked it into her song writing, channelling the leftfield and the esoteric at a musical séance. Like the leap Johnny Depp made between 21 Jump Street to Ed Wood, Siobhan Donaghy has successfully shaken off her pop teen past and set out her stall as an adult artist. It is certain that she has something to prove and this time, being off-kilter may mean she stays the distance.

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