POP singer Cheryl Cole can’t relate to the songs she sings. Yes, you read that right. In a recent interview on her latest release A Million Lights with music website Popjustice, the British singer admitted that since she never wrote the songs on her albums, she could never relate to them in a personal way.

Cole stepped into the spotlight around the time when the now-ubiquitous reality talent competition trend was just starting to take off. Titled Popstars The Rivals, Cole was among the five lucky ladies voted by the public to join a girl group, Girls Aloud, in late 2002.

After considerable success – making five platinum-certified albums, earning a whopping £25mil in revenue plus a Guinness World Records title for “Most Successful Reality TV Group” – the girls decided to take a year-long hiatus in 2009.

It was only a matter of time before a solo career came a calling for the gorgeous brunette. Cole released her album 3 Words in the same year, with the first single Fight For This Love dominating both British and international airwaves.

But this sophomore effort suggests that perhaps her debut’s success was just beginner’s luck. Personally, only the first five tracks of A Million Lights is worth listening to. The album kicks off with Under The Sun, a fairly catchy, foot-tapping R&B number while the current single, Call My Name, is perhaps her best bet at creating a groovy club hit.

Meanwhile, Craziest Things is a dark, infectious track that borrows Rihanna’s winning music-making ingredient: repetition. Girl In The Mirror, on the other hand, is a surprisingly uplifting pick-yourself-up anthem that encourages listeners to embrace one’s self. The title track is perhaps the album’s only other potential radio hit, a slow tempo, vulnerable piece, pleading for her ex-lover to stay by her side.

Then there are seven other tracks that listeners must plod through, ranging from the cringe-inducing Lana Del Rey-inspired track, Ghetto Baby and the trashy Kesha-equivalent Sexy Den A Mutha. But nothing ticks me off more than Cole’s lack of emotional investment in the album. Unfortunately, as a result, some precious, poignant pieces fall flat on the singer’s mechanical and significantly auto-tuned vocals.