Emma Bunton

The Spice Girls had already made Bunton's voice familiar in a group setting. Her first solo album, A Girl Like Me, arrived in 2001, following an earlier collaboration with Tin Tin Out on What I Am. What Took You So Long? gave the album a British number-one single, with an acoustic pop-rock arrangement that let her sound relaxed and approachable.

Take My Breath Away continued that easy melodic style, but the debut had several different production approaches. The more distinctive direction came with the singles that preceded Free Me. Rather than trying to compete with the most forceful contemporary pop singing, Bunton began using the softness and precision of her delivery as the principal attraction.

Released in 2004, Free Me built a consistent musical world around the title track, Maybe and I'll Be There. Maybe uses a skipping rhythm and sharply drawn orchestral accents; the title song moves more languidly. Crickets Sing for Anamaria adds another rhythmic flavour. The references are recognisable, but the performances remain concise pop singles rather than elaborate exercises in reconstruction.

Life in Mono followed in 2006, keeping the interest in elegant arrangements and older song forms. It included Downtown and the title song, linking the project to two different generations of British pop. Across these records, Bunton's singing has a quiet confidence: she rarely needs to push hard to make the melody clear, and the arrangements leave the listener close enough to hear its small inflections.