Originally meant to be a duet between Ben's Brother and Joss Stone, EMI's refusal to see one of their few surviving stars featuring on a single with airplay potential paved the way for American diva Anastacia to grab her fifteen minutes of fame. And though Joss Stone was allowed to do her bit on the album, the single and the accompanying worldwide attention 'Stalemate' might attract is sadly not hers.

Already embraced by BBC Radio 2, 'Stalemate' is the kind of single that borrows its concept from the 'how-to-make-a-hit' instruction book. Jamie Hartman's 'diamond in the rough' voice gives the mid-tempo guitar song its romanticism, Anastacia gives it a bit of soul and the story captures hope, love and misery, without taking the risk of actually going somewhere.

That is however also the main problem with 'Stalemate'; it sorely lacks any thing that's worth remembering. It's so averse to taking any risk that it just ends up being another middle of the road song nobody's going to remember one year from now.

For people in need of disposable pop coming out of the radio while fighting their daily household misery, 'Stalemate' might be of help. The positive sound the song breaths, while covering all basic human emotions will probably finds its way to a limited audience, one that doesn't care too much about music as long as it sounds like music.
But without any substance to make the song stand out, it's going to be in one ear and out the other for most people. 'Stalemate' will be forgotten before it gets a chance of getting noticed.