In the battlefield that was Britpop, few stars remained standing proud at the end of the Cool Britannia carnage. Pearl was right at the heart of it, one of the most recognisable faces and one of the few true female luminaries of the era. But she's not just a singer. She's a trooper who created trends rather than followed them so it should come as no surprise that now she's back and better than ever with an astonishing debut solo album.

One of the UK's as yet most underrated musical forces, she quit her first band Powder, indie troubadours of the mid Nineties still fondly remembered by the Camden cognoscenti of the time, after one of her band mates declared "we don't want you wobbling around on stage with a massive belly'" on hearing she was pregnant. Disgusted with the sexism, she swore never to return to the music
business.

But for the best artists, a career in music chooses them rather than vice versa and Pearl was soon back in the spotlight with the hotly tipped Lodger - until the same thing happened again. Since then, she's lazily been labelled as one of the 'Primrose Hill Set' by gossip hounds and columnists who see her out with friends like Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and Samantha Morton. Of course these green-eyed hacks fail to appreciate that they're simply Pearl's friends and have been for years.

She grew up with Sadie. They're just a bunch of very close young mothers together having fun on their rare nights off. Never one prone to an easy life, even when she was busy bringing up children she couldn't remain a mere - albeit glamorous - housewife. One, that looks like a Louise Brooks for the 21st Century.
She's had a hugely successful career designing and producing artful window hangings for the stars, which has seen her featured in a host of style magazines including the likes of Vogue. But the lure of music has proved too strong and now she's made the record she's always wanted to make. Back doing what she's best at, what she was born to do. Pearl is finally showing us who she really is.

Over the course of the past year, she's been busy writing and recording with her long-term boyfriend, Danny Goffey from Supergrass.A number of their friends have popped into the studio too after hearing the demos - they simply had to get involved with material this good. So former Suede keyboardist Neil Codling features along with, the legendary composer who arranged strings for Serge Gainsbourg, as well as actor Rhys Ifans and Suede's Brett Anderson.

Pearl is justifiably proud of the body of work that she's recorded. "Looking back at my previous bands, the lyrics weren't about anything," she says. "They were nonsense. These are the first songs I've written that actually mean something. "These lyrics are about sex, hedonism, having children. It's real life." These are classic songs but so out of time; they're of their time. No one is making records like this anymore and more fool them.

There's an ultra cool air of Francois Hardy coupled with a sophisticated jazz air to make the likes of Katie Melua weep. Dramatic, chiaroscuro melodies, the louche sound of a smoke-filled late night bar tempered with a knowing grin and a cold martini. These are modern bittersweet torch songs for our troubled times, by turns melancholic, by others euphoric with a nod to the past and a fierce stare into the future.

Pearl has found her oeuvre - sultry, sexy and moving
songs, the bittersweet sound of today's bohemian London. She continues: I've had three children and that's enough. But writing and singing are in my blood. It's what I do. I'll be making music till I'm 80."

Her forthcoming self-titled debut album will cement her reputation as a genuine star and song writing talent. Debut single 'I Wanna Love You' is one of the most gorgeous tunes you're going to hear all summer. Hand claps, delicious West Coast harmonies, a real peach of a love song that rocks out but still shows off Pearl's smoky, dreamy vocals like a beacon. She made her live solo debut late February at London's legendary Ronnie Scott's.

It was the perfect setting - Pearl looked like a Hollywood siren and delivered a breathtaking set to shame any of her peers. Oh, she's got it.It may have taken a while for us to realise it, but now the evidence is unequivocal - Pearl is a jewel to be treasured.