ng-awaited, oft-delayed full length debut from the London-based singer/songwriter boasts some studio assistance from father Richard Thompson, brother Teddy, half-sisters Martha and Lucy Wainwright and Sean Lennon...culled from half-written songs over the years and then polished before recording in New York with producer/bassist Brad Albetta and Ed Haber, the LP arrives stateside after a U.K. release last fall // Release: Love Lies (January 31 // Sounds like: intelligent alt-pop with a folk heart, Thompson's songs tap into her famous family's love of classic roots-centric songwriting and dramatic edge... traipsing easily from honkytonk to sleek melodic pop to distinctly British acousticism, Thompson's voice has a weary non-commital aura while emitting flashes of sultry heat...a nice antidote to the sing-songy, cutesy, Target-commercial pop fluff that many American female songwriters have been peddling lately...

Quote: “If we’d done it in Britain with British musicians,” she says, “it would have had a totally different sound. It wasn’t intentional; everyone just played what they wanted to, and it turned out beautifully.” // What we like: "Little Boy Blue" kicks the album off in style, Richard Thompson delivering a Dire Straits-sounding wirey twang over an insistent shuffling rhythm...the aptly titled "Stormy" begins with some minor chord darkness, opening up to an anthemic chorus hook and Thompson vocals evoking the aural equivalent of dark, bittersweet chocolate (and more killer guitar work from dad)...the bold reworking of George Harrrison's "Don't Bother Me" works by reinventing the song as a foreboding mood piece of rejection...