It happens so frequently now that it doesn't even phase us anymore. The heart and soul of what we think of as "American" music turning up in the most unlikely places, beyond our borders. The latest is the exceedingly wonderful Ladies of the Canyon, a quartet of talented young women from Montreal who, as their name implies, dig deep into the rich trove of 70's-styled countrified folk/pop and the traditions of fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell and her So-Cal Laurel Canyon cohorts: Gram Parson, early Eagles, CSN+Y, Stone Poneys. Like their influences, these Ladies take acoustic, rural-tinged music into new directions, lovingly crafting songs of exquisite four-part harmonies and melodies that seem mined from the deepest regions of classic Americana.

Signed to Warner Brothers (we're assuming for the U.S. as well as Canada), Ladies of the Canyon have just completed their as-yet-untitled debut album with producer Colin Cripps (Kathleen Edwards, Sarah McLachlan), a record they say "totally exceeds our expectations." And after indulging in the band's just-released self-titled four-track digital EP our expectations are pretty damn high. Songs such as the slow and sweet "Haunted Woman" and "Every Minute" bring together, as Pop Montreal describes, "beautiful harmonies, devilish beats and ivories, and a cold set of steel strings to strangle your misfortunes with." Highly recommended...and more details to come on a U.S. full-length release. Thanks for the tip on the Ladies from Alex Wilhelm at crazedhits.com.

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Ladies of the Canyon - "Haunted Woman" (from their self-titled EP)

Ladies of the Canyon - "Every Minute" (from their self-titled EP)

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After a decade's worth of exceptionally fine new-folk albums, a Mercury prize nomination and stacks of glowing reviews, Liverpudlian songstress Kathryn Williams continues to fly, inexplicably, under the radar, known and loved mainly by a loyal legion of U.K. fans and smitten critics. Forthcoming new album The Quickening, arriving in Europe February 22 (no U.S. release yet), may set the record straight with a new label - One Little Indian - and some excellent pre-release buzz ("the most accomplished album of her career", trumpets Wears The Trousers). New project follows her wonderful 2008 collaboration with Neil MacColl - Two - and most recent '07 solo album, the brilliant Leave to Remain. "It has a mood," says Williams, "a slightly sinister palette with lyrics that are raw. I see myself in these songs a lot..."

In order to capture the immediacy of a near-live recording, Williams not only assembled a backing band for the recording without sharing the songs beforehand, she also insisted in keeping the songs to a maximum of three takes. Recorded in just four days - Quickening, indeed - the dozen new songs have a wonderfully direct, minimalist feel without sacrificing the natural, casual lushness of the instrumentation or hushed, understated tone of her singing. We're enamored immediately of "Noble Guesses", a song that draws from the John Martyn/Nick Drake school of melodic pop/folk while the more jazz-tinged "Cream of the Crop" brings an interesting change of pace. Highly recommended.

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Kathryn Williams - "Noble Guesses" (from the album The Quickening)

Kathryn Williams - "50 White Lines" (from the album The Quickening)

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If Welsh singer/songwriter Pete Lawrie brings a world of varied influences and musical shades to his music, you can be guaranteed that there will always be something new he'll want to bring into the mix at some point. "Some days I want and try to write songs. Some days, some instrumental noise with computers. I love traditional Malian folk as much as I love dubstep as much as I love opera. It's my parents fault." Just exploring songs that may make the cut for his debut album A Little Brighter, due for release later this year, it's evident that Lawrie's disparate musical persona brings a fresh, adventurous aspect to his own oft-shifting sound. With a voice that recalls Ray Lamontagne's husky rasp, the Penarth-based performer moves easily from frayed folk melodies to Tom Waits-ian black-and-blue, atmospheric shout-out dirges to the occasional finespun piano ballad. And a lot more in between.

"It's taken me a long long time trying to find a sound, a style that suited me. A place I wanted to stop at creatively," he says. "More importantly I hope I never really do. I suppose if I had to give my current sound a name, I would call it Southern blues country rock skiffle hop tronica, whilst cringing at my own pretension." April 6 4-song EP How Could I Complain is an impressive starting point while we wait for the full-length, a stark and provocative glimpse of modern music that straddles the classic past with both graceful ease and significant authority. This is, as they say, the real deal. Stay tuned.

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Pete Lawrie - "All That We Keep"

Pete Lawrie - "Paperthin" (from the EP How Could I Complain)

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If there was a Brill Building in Los Angeles, chances are good that Rich Jacques would be there. Relocating to La-La-Land around the turn of the millennium from his home base of Pittsburch, Jacques has built his life around writing and producing as well as recording songs in his home studio under the name Right The Stars. His self-titled debut album, just released digitally, is a testament to the craft of creating songs that catch the ear and worm their way into your gray matter.  This isn't the kind of chin-stroking seriousness and edgy artistic statement that critics tend to fawn over. It is, however, a noteworthy collection of thoroughly unpretentious and happily mainstream Fleetwood Mac-ish pop with a carefully honed rock edge wielded for some well-placed clout.

On Right The Stars, Jacques tips his strategic hand with the well-chosen inclusion of a faithful, inspired reading of the modern classic "Life In A Northern Town", the 1985 hit for Dream Academy. That song -- all big, memorable melodic hooks -- defines the modus operandi that Jacques brings to his own works. The radiant, uptempo "We Got It All", all snapping rhythms and crackling guitar riffs, seems made for the sunny SoCal environs while the tangled harmonies and soaring chorus of "House By the Ocean" have the dynamic presence that simply makes you want to reach for the volume knob and take it up a few notches. Recommended.

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Right The Stars - "House By The Ocean" (from the album Right The Stars)

Right The Stars - "Life In A Northern Town" (from the album Right The Stars)

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Her nine year marriage to Ben Folds may be over, but the trauma of a relationship gone awry bleeds through the tracks of Australian singer/songwriter Frally Hyne's impeccable, quietly stunning debut album. Recently self-released digitally, The Light is an inspired masterwork of sensitive, sensual songcraft as well as an incisive, deeply personal look inside the emotional wreckage of a couple's painful split. "It just kind of cracks you open in a lot of ways," say Frally, "I don't know that I would have made this particular record if that hadn't have happened." Still, she maintains, "I don't think it is a blaming record. It is more about my own reflection." Making The Light was also, she observes, "sort of like therapy" and gave her the chance to "find your own voice."

Frally's redemptive journey can be traced in the words of many of The Light's ten songs, but the hushed tone and stately pace reveal more than just lyrical insight. Tracks the likes of "Remembrance Day," a graceful hymn and duet with Teddy Thompson, the gently uptempo "Not Supposed to Miss You" (with Ben Lee) and beautifully textured "Old/New" (with Jolie Holland) are just a few examples of the subtle but masterful use of melody, Frally's sweet, wistful voice and perfectly nuanced folk/pop instrumentation that make The Light required listening. Highly recommended.

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Frally - "Remembrance Day" (featuring Teddy Thompson) (From the album The Light)

Frally - "Not Supposed to Miss You" (with Ben Lee) (from the album The Light)

Photo Credit: Dylan Coker

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We know a few things about the ever-so-amazing singer/songwriter Krista Detor. That she seems obsessed with oranges...that she writes with wicked aplomb and devastatingly dry wit on her blog...that after traveling the world (Korea to New Orleans) she's now settled in the hills of southern Indiana. And then there's what remains hidden in the shadows: the rather mysterious quality to her songs, a depth of literary and cultural import that manifests comfortably in her lyrical imagery and a pervasive sense of dramatic mysticism in her tales. Rarities all, truth be told, and qualities that underlie her provocative and accomplished new album Chocolate Paper Suites, arriving March 12 in Europe (August for the U.S.) It's not often that an album of this artistic heft felt so remarkably light and accessible; there's simply not a wasted word or misplaced note.

Detor's songs have been described as vignettes before, but her new album takes the concept one step further, creating five seamless three-song suites, each based on or inspired by great minds -- e.g., Dylan Thomas, Charles Darwin, Federico Garcia Lorca -- and imaginatively arranged and produced with her partner/collaborator David Weber utilizing folk, jazz, Americana and alt-pop elements. Guest guitarist Colin Linden adds foreboding shades to the album's opening track "Rich Man's Life", the song's melody winding through a Celtic mountain fiddle jam and back again. "Recklessness and Rust", a sweetly harmonied piano ballad gives Detor's gently sanded, unadorned alto an array of lovely lyrical wordplay. Suites is, suffice to say, not to be missed. Highly recommended.

Krista Detor - "Recklessness and Rust" (from the album Chocolate Paper Suites)

Krista Detor - "Rich Man's Life" (from the album Chocolate Paper Suites)

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Just when we're thinking we might have our finger on the musical pulse of Ireland's promising, much buzzed O Emperor, the band finds a way to keep us guessing, happily we might add. With one foot firmly planted in U.K. alternative pop scene and the other wobbling about in an odd American(a) indie hybrid, the Cork/Waterford quintet have created a debut that is concurrently (and oddly) unsettling and satisfying. Childhood friends who've been banging about in various musical incarnations since they were 15, O Emperor will follow up their dazzling fall '09 single "Po" and recently released 3-track EP Persephone with a long-awaited (and twice recorded) debut album Hither, Thither in May.

"Po" is a deft and sublime convergence of guitar jangle, haunting falsetto vocals and a tantalizing harmonic melody, possessing just enough of a foreboding air to keep things dramatically on edge. The mood is defining ingredient here: be it a wandering, slightly tipsy piano line and haunting horn solo ("Heisenberg") or electronic atmospherics and odd time signatures ("Some Small Matter"), the creative bar is raised impressively high. "We love the harmonies and richness of a lot of American music, like the Beach Boys, Grizzly Bear or Beach House," says the band's Paul Savage, "but also like the eerie darker side to some British indie music, like Joy Division or Radiohead." Highly recommended -- and stay tuned for release details.

O Emperor - "Po" (from the album Hither, Thither)

O Emperor - "Some Small Matter" (from the album Hither, Thither)

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Some voices were just meant to be together. We realized that pretty quickly when listening to Everyone Is Someone, the third album of striking folk/pop from Toronto's Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine, AKA Dala. It's actually fitting that the their name should come from combining the last syllable of their first names since their sound is so dependent on the intricate juxtaposition of their lovely voices in harmony. Like The Indigo Girls, The Webb Sisters or fellow Canadians Madison Violet, Dala travel musically amidst contemporary folk landscapes that tap into the traditions of the past, in this case an appealing mix of fluid Everly Brother-ish soaring, catchy pop melodies, Brit-folk acoustic jangle and some 70's Laurel Canyon pop a la Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills and Nash and Fleetwood Mac.

There's nothing too mysterious or edgy lurking amidst the mostly luminous, hummable tracks that make up Everyone Is Someone. In fact, part of Dala's appeal is the way songs such as "Lonely Girl" or "Levi Blues" simply lay themselves out without a hint of pretense or dark irony, just sweetly nuanced melodies delivered with an unequivocal joy of two young women who simply love singing together. Live, as they proved at this year's Newport Folk Festival, Dala can make the most of just one guitar and two voices (listen here). For Everyone the production is fleshed out with some tasteful instrumental touches and orchestration but there's never any doubt that the vocals should be smartly front and center. Check out the video for "Horses" after the jump...

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Dala - "Horses" (from the album Everyone Is Someone)

Dala - "Lonely Girl" (from the album Everyone Is Someone)

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Six years ago Emily Maguire left her London home, guitar in hand and headed for the outback of Australia, looking for a change in her life at a time of an emotional struggle. She had already discovered Buddhism as a centering influence in her life and, with some encouragement of new friends and peers, began the process of recording a few of the dozens of songs that she'd written. The result was Stranger Place, a surprisingly mature album of lyrical folk/rock. Word of mouth and gigs in her new homeland and back in London helped spread the word of a promising new singer and songwriter. By the time her second album Keep Walking was released in 2008, Maguire was receiving solid critical notice and a growing cult fan base.

New album Believer, out in the U.K. and Australia November 16 (no U.S. deal yet) isn't as much a revelatory listen as it is an affirming one. There's nothing remotely edgy or hipster-ironic going on here, just finely crafted songs that have that certain So-Cal Eagles/Fleetwood Mac aura to them -- midtempo, pop/rockers and bittersweet ballads all delivered with Maguire's warm, gently sanded vocals and spiritual lyrical themes. "I'd Rather Be" typifies the Believer style: chunky guitar riffs, mid-tempo rhythm kick, simple but memorable melodic structure and breezy, sing-along chorus. This is the basics done exceedingly well and a welcome reminder that sometimes playing it straight -- and straight down the middle -- has its own unpretentious rewards.

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Emily Maguire - "I'd Rather Be" (from the album Believer)

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Is there life after Idol rejection? For quirky, quixotic 19-year-old Australian singer/songwriter Lisa Mitchell the answer is an emphatic yes. Three years after getting the boot from the finals of the Down Under version of the popular cringefest, Mitchell has delivered one of the most remarkable pop albums of the year, an unusual, dreamy and surprisingly mature collection of addictive hooks, sunny, unpretentious goofiness and her own left-of-center musical vision. Not many debut albums can sound this fresh, this fun, this child-like and this mature at the same time but the recently released Wonder (outside the U.S. only so far) manages to do all of that and then some. Mitchell was recently nominated for three Arias (Aussie Grammys) including Best Female Artist and Best Breakthrough Artist - Album.

A sweet tart of a candied treat for the ears, the album's thirteen songs also have the distinctive personal stamp of the artist -- something rare in an era when young artists are usually "managed" into bland replications of the current hip-pop flavor of the month. Take the single (and oddball video) "Coin Laundry", a sing-songy, maddeningly addictive jolt of caffeinated and sugary fluff that also mixes in some twinkling production touches to the "guilty pleasure" quotient (see the video after the jump). You can try to resist, but it's best to just simply surrender. “Songwriting for me is usually trying to create something that will give me proof of hope," says Mitchell, "like a packed lunch for the future or something." For us, the playful, irresistible Wonder gives us that "proof".

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Lisa Mitchell - "Clean White Love" (from the album Wonder)

Lisa Mitchell - "Love Letter" (from the album Wonder)

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"I'm a chameleon, I'm always in disguise", London's eccentric retro-pop diva Paloma Faith sings on her single "Stone Cold Sober", an understatement, as it turns out, of immense proportion. But in addition to a Bjork-like imaginative, artsy flair (see more pix and videos after the jump), Faith, who has a background in theater and dance, fortunately brings more to the beehive party than just a phantasmic, photogenic face to her stylish, if slightly mannered, debut album Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? (just out in the U.K.). It would be tempting - and easy - to simply file it away in the "Duffy/Amy Winehouse" file of 60's soul/pop kitschy-sink artifacts but we think there's something formidable and fun going on here. Dismiss offhand at your own loss.

There's a beguiling charm to songs such as the Spectorian, vibrant title track or the glittering cinematic sparkle of "New York", the tale of a boyfriend who leaves her not for another woman, but for another city. Sure she sounds like Amy W. here and there (and there) and, yes, the production often sounds overwhelming, but this is cheekily grand pop music played out on a oversized stage and sometimes (just sometimes) nothing succeeds quite like a little elegant excess. No word yet on a U.S. release...Stay tuned.

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Paloma Faith - Album sampler (from the album Do You Want the Truth...)

Paloma Faith - "New York" (from the album Do You Want the Truth...)

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With all the great exposure given to the exceptionally talented Brit neo-folk singer/songwriter Alexi Murdoch over the past year or so we were beginning to wonder when we were going to see the full release of his latest album Towards the Sun, his first since the breakout '06 full-length debut Time Without Consequence. Taking a few post-Time tracks that have appeared most notably on the soundtrack to the Sam Mendes film Away We Go, the new seven-track project has been available only from Murdoch directly on-line or at his live gigs. Distribution issues perhaps? All we know is that the album is said to be coming before the end of the year, perhaps in an expanded format.

Murdoch's nocturnal, stark acoustic songs have been most often compared to the late, legendary U.K. folk trailblazer Nick Drake even down to the slow-smoked voice and distinctive guitar work. His best known song "Orange Sky" has been licensed numerous times for TV use while one of his newer tracks, "Through the Dark" -- also on Towards the Sun -- appeared first in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone. In typically succinct and shadowy fashion -- this guy will never be accused of publicity oversaturation -- we haven't heard much about what's going on with the new project, but stay tuned.

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Alexi Murdoch - "Towards the Sun" (from the album Towards the Sun)

Alexi Murdoch - "Crinan Wood" (from the album Towards the Sun)

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British singer/songwriter Gwyneth Herbert posesses a remarkably tough and tender voice that has been called "bewitching" and "a knowing mix of honey, steel and gravel". Originally pegged primarily as a jazz vocalist for her 2004 debut album, Herbert left the standards far behind with her second album, 2007's Between Me and the Wardrobe, an inventive self-penned, self-released effort that with critical raves was eventually picked up by Blue Note for European distribution. She says simply, "I wanted to tell my own stories."

New album All The Ghosts, arriving July 6 in the U.K., grew out of songs recorded for a special on-line project commissioned by Peter Gabriel and recorded at his Real World studios last year. At turns whimsical, sentimental, dispassionately observational and practically oozing with emotion, Ghost's ten tracks are completely and unabashedly original utilizing a wide-ranging array of instrumentation, mood and atmosphere. British music hall piano romps are mixed alongside jawdropping balladry and modern, sometimes dissonant rhythmic backing that recall everything from Nina Simone to Kurt Weill to Regina Spektor to Annie Lennox. There's even a nearly straight-ahead jazz track "Some Days I Forget", a song that still manages to add Herbert's own idiosyncratic signature notes: an unexpectedly timeless voice, soul-baring lyrics and a goose-bump enducing personal delivery. It's THAT good. Watch the "making of" EPK after the jump...

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After nearly a decade of on-again off-again record deals, songwriting successes and the release of two mainstream piano-pop albums in Europe, Londoner Lucie Silvas decided to pack in the "flavor of the moment" industry treadmill of the U.K. and move to a radically different music scene in Nashville. She had, after all, begun primarily as a songwriter and she was looking forward to recharging creatively and perhaps finding a home for her songs in a town that still had a reputation for respecting and rewarding a superior tunesmith. After some productive writing partnerships and a portfolio of first-rate demos, Silvas looks to not only make her mark as an in-demand songwriter, she's ready to stick her toe back in the water as a performing artist as well.

Possessing a commanding, sandy-textured voice that serves as an ideal fit for her large-scale musical vision, Silvas creates songs that linger not just with infectious hooks but with fully realized melodies that connect with honest emotional resonance. Falling somewhere between the accomplished works of contemporaries such as Sara Bareilles and Delta Goodrem and a touch of classic, soulful piano-pop skills of Carole King and even Laura Nyro, Silvas' music has simply gotten better and better as she's been able to write more with her own interpretations in mind. Newer songs such "Fall For Something Real" and "The Right Kind" have opulent, richly detailed features in structure and performance that simply are head and shoulders above most of what's passing for current pop radio fodder. We think she's ready for that second shot.

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You can practically hear the record needle drop on the scratchy 45 when listening to Fitz and The Tantrums, a stylish retro-styled 60's pop/soul combo from L.A. The influences and references, a mash up of early Motown, Stax and even a touch of British Invasion and Hall and Oates blue-eyed soul, knock against each other with cool abandon but there's no doubt that Fitz and his revue also have a keen eye on the recent success of other neo-soul singers such as Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Adele.

Noted Winehouse producer Mark Ronson is a fan and it's easy to see why in the "imitation and flattery" play book. The material may not be in the majors yet -- there's just a bit too much studied retro structure and marketing concept at play here -- but fortunately the band's August 11 debut five-track EP Songs For A Breakup, Vol. 1 has just enough small pleasures and downtown grit to keep things interesting. We're not in the Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings territory yet but just getting this close makes it worth a listen. Lead track "Breakin' The Chains of Love" is one of the best of the batch, a song that manages to bring a fresh, "where have I heard that" melody to the super-stylized sound. Video after the jump...

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When you have a classically-trained voice and background in opera, making the move to the crowded field of pop singer/songwriters might seem a bit odd. But for Brooklyn-born, L.A.-based Chris Mann, trading Italy for Nashville seemed the natural thing to do and the fulfillment of a dream to write and create his own songs.

Now signed to Sony's Victor label, Mann is wrapping up his as-yet-untitled debut album for an August release, a sleek mix of soulful pop and dramatic ballads delivered by an amazingly pure voice that's more Robin Thicke than Josh Groban. Produced by Grammy-winning hitmaster Walter Afanasieff along with Greg Wells, Mark Hammond and Bleu, Mann's music manages to skirt just this side of formulaic grandiosity thanks to his effortless singing and his own finely-crafted songs. It also doesn't hurt to have a good dose of self-deprecating humor, a trait on display in his take on Kanye West's "Heartless" (check out the fan-assisted video after the jump).

An introductory digital EP arrives at various online stores April 21.

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“I wanted to make a record that locks you in,” declares Brit singer/songwriter and quietly dazzling guitarist Scott Matthews, “something that gives you a feeling that stays with you. For me, making music is all about creating a mood.” To that end, Elsewhere, Matthews' follow-up to his well-received 2007 debut Passing Strangers, not only has that fresh, first-take spontaneity, it's also sporting a more "plugged in" sound this time around, with an eclectic array of influences and instrumentation.

Earlier tracks such as the ethereal and aptly named "Elusive" had most critics reaching for the easy Jeff Buckley or Nick Drake comparisons but for the new project names and influences as disparate as Nick Cave, David Bowie and even Led Zeppelin are being mentioned by Matthews himself. He even convinced Zep frontman and Rising Sand Grammy Winner Robert Plant to duet on the new song "12 Harps", a track that sound like it might have been lifted from some outtakes of Led Zeppelin III. "The song is very much steeped in the Zeppelin tradition," says Matthews, "it has a strange story, and it’s very mystical sounding."

The heavier feel to Elsewhere, exemplified on the densely layered rocker and first single "Fractured", still has a dreamy, retro-psychedelica side with tracks such as the pulsing, spacious "Underlying Lies" and "12 Harps" adding a more subtle vibe. “There’s a certain thread running through these songs,” Matthews states. “It became more evident the more I wrote, that there was some kind of connection. There’s a reflective mood to the album. A lot of the tracks fade out, and that was intentional: to give people a chance to reflect on what they’ve just heard.”

Elsewhere streets May 18 in the U.K. with an American release date to be determined.

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Aussie band Augie March has charmed critics and won numerous awards over the course of three exceptional albums of smart, bristling rock tempered with songwriting frontman Glenn Richards' charged lyrics and soaring melodies. That's why it's mindboggling that this extraordinary band, selling platinum and receiving seven Arias (Aussie Grammys) on their last album, is without a U.S. release for their latest masterwork: Watch Me Disappear. Perhaps seen as too literate for the fist-pumpers, too mainstream for the hipsters, Augie March saw their last Moo You Bloody Choir languish on it's eventual U.S. release in 2007 with little minimal label support. So now we wait, somewhat patiently, for Disappear, released last fall in Australia, to appear stateside.

"There can be no doubt by now that Glenn Richards of Melbourne band Augie March is one of Australia’s finest songwriters," raves Melbourne's The Age. "Disappear... is a near-masterpiece of highly literate, emotive lyrics, gorgeous harmony-and-melody and a craftsmanlike approach to constructing songs... A landmark Australian rock album.” Did we mention we're waiting? Patiently?

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Nashville's Emily West would never be called a chanteuse -- there's just too much sassy, barnburning energy at the heart of her refreshingly unbridaled country songs. She may be channeling classic Opry spirits on her upcoming, as-yet-untitled debut album, but West also takes a cue from country rock queen Linda Ronstadt. Her commanding vocal style is capable of belting out over stomping, roadhouse riffs but it is also adept at caressing the tenderist of barstool ballads. It's a voice that's fortunately front and center of her self-penned songs. The rambunctious and defiant "That Kind of Happy" or "Rocks In My Shoes" are swooping tour-de-force anthems that keep the fiddle and pedal steel at a safe distance while growling guitars and kick-ass beats keep the pedal down and the engine racing.

"I'm a live singer...performing is very emotional," West observes. "They're my songs...my personality set to music." That special relationship with her material is evident most notably on "Blue Sky", a stunning ballad that she wrote about the breakup of her parents' marriage and shares vocally with former Tonic frontman Emerson Hart. We first heard "Blue Sky" nearly two years ago and it continues to knock us out as well as making us wonder how long we'll have to wait for West's full-length debut. We get the whole Nashville "machinery" that relies on radio and genre-specific promo gladhanding, but we're sure that Emily West has significant appeal outside of the industry formula box. A four-track EP (with "Blue Sky") is available digitally now with the new single "That Kind of Happy" available April 7.

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It's been a busy year for The Webb Sisters, the U.K. sibling singers and songwriters who effortlessly blend enchanting contemporary and traditional British folk backed by an array of instruments ranging from harp to mandolin. After a pair of fine albums, Charley and Hattie were handpicked last year to accompany iconic songwriter Leonard Cohen on his international tour (recently wrapped in the U.S.), lending their voices to the Cohen classic "If It Be Your Will". They also were heard recently on the latest Sting "seasonal" album If On A Winter's Night. We caught the Webbs in Austin this past March at SXSW and were quickly seduced by the gorgeous harmony interplay and slew of wonderful songs, many of which are planned for the duo's forthcoming Peter Asher-produced album.

Spring '09 EP Comes In Twos gave us a preview - including Cohen's "Will" - and now The Webb Sisters have returned with a new 4-track digital EP The Other Side. Balancing a pair of lovely ballads ("Blue and You", "The Goodnight Song") with two lively, uptempo songs ("1000 Stars", "The Savages"), The Other Side shows us two sides of the sisters' charms and gives us even more reasons to anticipate the planned full length in 2010. "The Goodnight Song" captures the essence of what makes The Webb Sisters special -- intricately woven vocal harmonies that flit and soar with a lighter-than-air delicacy. L.A. and San Fran readers -- check out a handful of West Coast showcase events in January.

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The Webb Sisters - "The Goodnight Song" (from the EP The Other Side)

The Webb Sisters - "1000 Stars" (from the EP The Other Side)

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