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New pop starlet-in-the-making Natalia releases her debut single, featuring remixes by Bimbo Jones.

Natalia has the kind of wide-eyed beauty and infectious laugh that engage you from the moment you meet her. But as we all know, when it comes to the music industry, gorgeous looks and a sweet demeanour won't get you anywhere unless you have the talent to back them up. Luckily for Natalia, she's been blessed with that too, which is why, from here on in, you'll probably be hearing a hell of a lot more about her. With killer tunes, a killer voice and - let's face it - killer looks, it's no wonder Girl's Aloud invited her to support them on their 2007 stadium tour.

Girls Aloud

Born in Wales to a Greek mother and a Lebanese father, Natalia is the middle daughter of three. She started performing from a young age and attended the local ballet school from the age of three, before winning a place at the esteemed Elmhurst ballet school where she studied ballet, jazz, contemporary and musical theatre. On leaving, she began dancing professionally, appearing in theatre productions around Europe and landing the role of a Greek dancer in the film Alexandra The Great.

Natalia began singing while at college and later joined a girl group called the Pussy Katz after being invited to audition. “The group didn’t work out for various reasons and around that time I met a producer called K Warren,” she explains. “I knew that singing was all I wanted to do and I would miss the buzz of performing, so after a lot of soul searching I took a chance and I went solo. I started recording songs, and I put some on MySpace and it totally blew up. It was crazy!”

So crazy, in fact, that Natalia’s page was getting seven thousand hits a day and her tracks soon reached number one on the MySpace RandB and Other charts. “I couldn’t believe it,” she smiles. “I had three songs on there and more and more people kept listening. I would sit there watching the counter go up open-mouthed.”

Word soon spread and representatives of record company Upper 11 - whose president is Mark Shimmel, ex-Arista and LaFace Records - went to one of Natalia’s gigs to see what the fuss was about. Needless to say, with interest growing daily and several record companies chasing her, a deal was soon on the table and Natalia signed with Upper 11 at the end of 2006. “It all happened too fast, but all at the right time,” she muses. “I never questioned anything that happened. I just went with it and trusted that it would all work out.”

Songwriters

Unsurprisingly, the cream of the music world has flocked to work with Natalia. As well as working with noted choreographer Paulette Minott - who has worked with the likes of Sugababes, Rihanna and Girls Aloud - she has worked with some of the world's best-known songwriters and producers.

Debut single, Pretty Like Me is a stomping, pop and rock-heavy, tongue in cheek look at modern-day society's obsession with looks - particularly in regards to young women - that features mixes by Bimbo Jones, who has already mixed the likes of Usher and Ciara. Unlike so many tracks remixed to the hills and back for release it's a slight surprise to discover that Pretty Like Me actually stands up to the attention of being reinvented five times on the one disc. A mixture of pure 'Kylie' style modern disco floor-filler - high on effects at times recalling Felt Mountain era Goldfrapp, more than than anything else. Played through at one sitting on random the tracks spin through a set of sophisticated mixes, often light on vocals and heavier on driving beats. As is often the case the 'radio edit' of the track comes out of this as sounding like the poor relation and is certainly the least ambitious. Perhaps as the 'lead track' as such, it could have benefitted from some of the blissed-out spcey treament (robot danceable beats, phasing etc...) of the final cersion - the Bimbo Jones Deep Club Mix? Not that it's bland, but after the mixes returning to the cleaner 'normal' version makes it sound rather sparce by comparison.

The video for the song - which features on the CD as a an 'extra' - is directed by award-winning director Phil Griffin (Amy Winehouse, Bassment Jaxx, The Feeling) and is a heart-warming portrayal of young people’s struggle for acceptance.

Natalia certainly has the look - and is likely to have the sound too, if this one track and the army of hip collaborators who seem to be lined up for her album is anything to go by. The finishing touches are currently being put to her album, due for release early next year, and the contributors list reads like a who’s who of producers and writers. Among those who have worked their magic on her debut are Peter Zizzo (Avril Lavigne, J-Lo), Andy Marvel (Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Diana King), Jimmy Bralower (R Kelly, Madonna, Britney Spears), Mike Mangini (Joss Stone, Run DMC, The Corrs), J-Remy (Kelly Rowland, Fatman Scoop, Fabolous), Itaal Shut (Jewel, Maxwell, Rob Thomas), Lil Eddie (P Diddy, LL Cool J) and K.Warren (Brandy, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera).

Only time will tell what Natalia turns up next, but on the pop finish of this evidence alone the music world - and the charts - should probably take the advice of the girl herself on this track, as she sings: "Don't touch that dial, don't you want this smile?" One to watch.

For more information visit the official website: www.nataliaofficial.com

Pretty Like Me is in the shops now, on the Upper 11 records label.

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