Nan Vernon's debut album , deals out a mix of funky pop that works for the most part. Leading with "Motorcycle," and working her way through "Tattoo Tears" and "Treasure," as well as a solid cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Vernon displays a strong musical sensibility. That sensibility also comes through on her ballads, including "Iron John," but toward the end of the album, two attempts at esoteric lyricism, "Fisherman" and "Manta Ray," come across as slightly oddball in comparison. Vernon does a decent job of integrating them into the rest of the album, by producing them with the same high quality and putting another excellent cover ("Johnny's Birthday") between them, so they don't completely disrupt the flow of the album. But they can be somewhat jarring. Throughout the rest of the album, Vernon is very careful to distinguish herself from other female singer/songwriters, and she is likely to continue to do so with her quirky but accessible material.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based Jill Freeman has put out her first record on the small Magic Records label, and it's a clear winner. One reviewer has described her as a modern Julie London, in honor of the heartfelt quality of her singing, but I think that a favorable comparison to Jane Siberry is more in order. As Siberry did in her early albums, Freeman combines raw emotional honesty with sparse arrangements and a delicate voice, an approach she uses most effectively on "Midnight in a Zen Garden" and "Way Back When It Was Now." But she's also got an energetic and playful sense of humor, as "Kisses Good," "Things I Like to Touch," and "Everything Makes Me Cry" ("Crosby, Stills and Nash are
