The Spirit Room

Now that Britney and her clones have flooded the teenage pop market, record executives have been forced to look in new directions to line their already-bulging pockets.

Enter Michelle Branch, an 18-year old signed to Madonna’s Maverick label whose combination of melodic alternative pop, youth and good looks, is set to convert a whole new generation of pre-pubescent American girls.

Her debut album, The Spirit Room, is full of the kind of music you’d hear on Dawson’s Creek. We’re talking catchy, warm and efficient angst with a side-order of positivism that finds its hook quickly, nails it and leaves.

Radiohead, it ain’t. But that’s not to say it’s bad either. Branch’s vocals can be a little mannered, but she has a great range, a big set of lungs and a rocky timbre (think Alanis-lite) that offsets some of the weaker lyrics.

Branch writes or co-writes all eleven tracks on the album, and it works to her advantage, giving a real sense of a tempered, cohesive record. ‘You Get Me’ and ‘Here With Me’ prove the best of the bunch, sounding fresher and more original than the other songs.

After about track six the album starts to taper off but, still there’s easily enough here to keep your little sister very happy.

Good within its field.