Thursday, September 13, 2001

Album Review: THE SPIRIT ROOM, Michelle Branch

She may be 18 years old, but Michelle Branch is no Britney Spears or Mandy Moore. Her debut album, The Spirit Room, injects the music world with a new and decidedly better strand of teenage girl-pop.

Branch's first single, "Everywhere," received minimal play until the mid-August release of American Pie 2, in which the song is featured. Definitely the most upbeat song on The Spirit Room, her vocals are strong and clear, just one of the several sides she shows listeners. She sounds quieter and sweeter in "You Get Me" and a little trashy in "Something to Sleep To."

Long-faced and pretty, she writes or co-writes her own music, unlike many artists her age: a definite credit to Branch. Just like those other artists, though, the lyrics are youthful, and romantic almost to a fault. On "If She Only Knew," Branch sings, "I know she loves you and I can't interfere / So I'll just have to sit back and watch my world disappear."

Overal, Branch's sound comes off like that of a female counterpart to Nine Days or American Hi-Fi, and at times like the funky Nelly Furtado. She has been quoted as having a "love affair" with her music, apparent in the energy that dominates the whole project. If she keeps it up, her love affair will likely fuel her through the tours and follow-up albums that come with the popularity headed her way, as "Everywhere" and The Spirit Room propel her upward.

- Christine Sampson

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