Well, there's no avoiding the bleedin' obvious comment: Emily Jane White (EJW from here on in) sounds like a dead ringer for Cat Power/Chan Marshall on several tracks. It's frankly a bit spooky at first, especially with bluesy opener 'Bessie Smith' being the kind of tribute song found on Cat Power's last album Jukebox. All that is no bad thing of course, and it may be recommendation enough for some, but perhaps subconsciously it means that EJW really needs to do something extra to make her mark and set herself apart (though maybe just being a reliable live performer would be enough). After a brief performer confidence-boosting sojourn in the south of France, EJW now hails from San Francisco, and amongst her true inspirations would be the likes of Nick Cave and P.J. Harvey. Any indie movie buffs out there might already have been aware of her first recorded output - the track 'Wild Tigers I Have Known' from the soundtrack of the film of the same name and it's also present here. She also had a 'one to watch' endorsement from Rolling stone last year.Dark Overcoat is an album of melancholic folksy spirituality, with echoes of blues and touches of Americana. EJW accompanying herself primarily on acoustic guitar, but with bare and haunting piano and electric picking at times to mix things up - and the latter sounding all the more atmospheric for the occasional slipped note on 'Dagger'. There are enough references to the devil and the dark side for this all to be reworked at lightening speed by some sort of Scandinavian death metal outfit. Titles like 'Dagger' and 'The Demon', 'Sleeping Dead', and 'Two Shots To The Head' convey some idea of the maudlin lyrical contents - but that's often belied by a warmly resonant tone. Apparently the inspiration for this debut album was a failed relationship and she has said that isolation is a consistent theme in her music. Certainly there's a bemoaning of a physical loss or a sense of a missing piece of a psychological jig-saw threaded through most of the narratives - 'Hole In The Middle' being the clearest metaphor used on one of the best songs. With the album having taken five years to coalesce it must have been either a very convoluted or dramatically shattering break-up.By the third track her voice is showing signs of diverging from the Cat Power mould, with perhaps a slightly airier lilt that can drift towards a Suzanne Vega-like inflection. One of the few hints at something more upbeat is actually the weakest song, and signals a dip in form at the middle of the album. Any sense of loss of interest though is swiftly salvaged by the thundering piano break of the subsequent 'The Demon', and the final couple of songs especially seal the good overall impression, making it amongst the best female singer-songwriter albums I've heard recently. However, I am left trying to put my finger on why it lacks a real hook to draw me in and take me up to the highest level of emotional involvement. Perhaps it's because she herself never quite lets go - remaining sulky without getting as far as real angst. There's a wall of reserve between her and the listener that still sounds like it needs to be knocked down. But time is on her side and maybe she still doesn't feel confident with how good she can be: roll on album number two. 72%Video:> 'Dagger' and 'Hole In The Middle' [youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGcnQDn2KQ[/youtube] [youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4DTL8wcCUPs[/youtube]Emily Jane White on MySpace Emily Jane White Official Site