Searching for Something New? Sorbara May Be The Cure

Martina Sorbara's debut album, The Cure For Bad Deeds, opens and closes with the same song. "Bonnie and Clyde" is a downcast, hypnotic number that's fueled by the songwriter's lulled piano and weepy vocals. The tracks are nearly identical - they are the bookends for this album. The songstress searches for a remedy for past wrongs on here and seems to settle with acceptance. On "Casanova" she sings, "It's a little bit too late to correct the whole mistake. So I'm laying where we lay, trying to turn off the instant replay."

Sorbara pulls herself back and forth on songs about good and bad behavior, and while this flip-flopping makes the album a bit choppy at times, it leaves the listener feeling excited for her. Sorbara has a wide vocal range and tends to come off as a cross between a seductive, jazzy prankster (think Sarah Vaughan) and a dreamy, fragile child (think of Jewel, minus the yodeling). The songs are an enjoyable mix of jazz, folk, pop, and rock. Highlights on here include "Cherry Road," an eloquent post-9/11 song about finding beauty in its simplest forms; "Better Man," an impressive jazz number; and a slow, country-tinged tune called "End of the World." Producer Jian Ghomeshi does an admirable job on here and turns a fairly diverse collection of songs into a pretty cohesive disk.

At 23, Sorbara is still finding her voice, but that's natural. We'll have to wait to see which side of the fence the songwriter decides to land on. Until then, we'll be enjoying The Cure For Bad Deeds.