Blame It On Me
Alana Davis' debutBlame It On Medelves deep into themes of non-conformity and individualism, presented largely as jazzy lullabies. Though Davis has confessed to not being very hip to the sorority of modern vocalists, she opens the record with a reworking of Ani DiFranco's "32 Flavors." But Davis is no elder stateswoman, either. At 23, the New Yorker is just coming into her own, and the subject matter of her songs shows an artist with a youthful perspective - "The weight of the world has fallen/ and the rubble is at my feet," she sings on The Weight of the World" - even though she has the voice of someone twice her age. It's almost as if she's out to assert her unique place in the circuit of singer-songwriters by returning to the heart and soul that made them so popular in the first place. --Nick Heil