Night on My Side

A solitary soul laid bare, the tender plod of "Day One", fragile hope and honesty of "My God" and "Over & Over"'s drowsy regret are not so much cathartic venting, as late night diary confessions and captured moments. It's not what she says, but the passion with which she says it that makes her songs so phenomenally poignant. Aided by Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann, she doesn't just tell tales, she conjures full-blooded emotions. The details of "Back Of My Hand"'s unrequited love are irrelevant, it's the sinking feeling that counts. And when the Radiohead strength chorus crashes into "Let A Good Thing Go", and the speaker tearing white noise and guitar overdrive erupt in "Lucky One" they deliver a sense of loss like no words ever could. --Dan Gennoe