WAY before Strictly Come Dancing, Sophie Ellis Bextor had made it clear she was not happy being cast solely as a pop princess and that she had designs on broadening her range.

After she was robbed of a better position on Strictly, an obvious path would have been to top the bill on something wonderful and glamorous such as Top Hat.

Instead of heading to the West End, Mrs Richard Jones (The Feeling) focused on the culture and music of the Eastern Bloc.

It transpires that while British audiences tired of Murder On The Dance Floor, Sophie became a star in Vladivostok, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia.

And who better to hone an experimental starlet than Ed Hartcourt? The Mercury-nominated singer-songwriter has already collaborated with the likes of Paloma Faith, Ren Harvieu, Lisa Marie Presley and Shirley Bassey.

Together the pair deliver an intriguing if rather pompous list of titles such as Birth Of An Empire, The Deer and The Wolf And 13 Little Dolls. The subject matter of Love Is A Camera is that of a woman who kills people by taking their photograph. Whereas Cry To The Beat Of The Band is an ode to being dumped at the altar, on which Ms Ellis Bextor is accompanied by a 50-piece Bulgarian choir.

Undoubtedly quirky and rather appealing, Wanderlust has become Sophie’s highest-charting album since her debut Read My Lips. Although you suspect Strictly fans may be bemused by the strange, sometimes austere Eastern Bloc ramblings from this very British impossible princess.