The Cold Cut

Kirsten Price- Magic Tree (Link 2) (Link 3)

I'll be honest- I'm not a singer-songwriter guy by any stretch of the imagination. You could stretch Sufjan Stevens into that category, but his music is extremely inventive and massively expansive. Lightspeed Champion is too honest, relevant and depressed to be cornered. Scouring my library, Paolo Nutini is about as much as I can stand in short stints. So basically it's not really my thing.

I am, however, open to those who want to change my opinion. And Kirsten Price really has. So, I recieved an email (all of which I love to read and listen to), visit the Myspace, as per usual.

The first thing that surprised me was how familiar her sound was. Not in a 'I am totally unoriginal' way, in a 'I've just blended all the things you love into one package' way. Which is a perfect start. So, who does she sound like? Well, to me at least, a potent vocal mix of KT Tunstall, Kelly Clarkson and Joss Stone, with added songwriting skills. On 'Magic Tree', she executes a 'Mrs Independant' vocal performance. It's an equally brilliant pop tune, and the inventiveness of this radio-friendly song has been transported across all the songs I have heard.

In many ways, Kirsten has already won the war- she's shared the stage with a host of A-list artists including Wyclef Jean, Sly and the Family Stone and the grammy-nominated Groove Collective, has some strong press under her belt and a huge host of fans. All that remains is a little airtime. I suggest you fight her corner, starting now or soon... This girl is going places, with or without us.

'Guts And Garbage', her debut album, was released on July 1st, as a re-release on Kirsten's own label. Run over to Kirsten's Myspace for the summer touring schedule and more information on the album.