I was handed a recent issue of Rolling Stone the other day by my wife who thought I was getting bored waiting for her to shop. I was, but when I saw Amy Winehouse on the cover I perked up. At first it was her dark unusual looks that caught my eye so I started reading the article. I was expecting fluff, another Brittany Spears or worse, rap inspired young angst being mistaken for music. I was encouraged to find out, however, the author was comparing her to great singers like Aretha Franklin and that her music was retro-R&B with original biting lyrics.

I decided to listen for myself and was stunned by the force of this young women’s voice. Well, when I found out she’s somewhat of a heavily tattooed British wild child, I was hooked. Her song Rehab is great. Drawn from a real life experience where her public relations consultant suggest she go into rehab, she captures the naïve denial one goes through in the first stages of a problem such as this. Lindsay Lohan has been crying this tune as she bounces back and forth between rehab-incarceration and sloppy drunk episodes on the outside. Love Is Blind is also well done in the way she speaks so frankly about her everyday life. Her personal narratives reminds me of Billy Holliday but her music is more similar to the African American girl groups of the early 60’s.

I highly recommend her for those who are looking for something a little different, with a flicker of brilliance.