Comatised

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

This debut CD crackles and sparks like diary pages set on fire. Naess is a 24-year-old British-born singer-songwriter who now lives in New York City. Her music draws on folk and rock, and some of her songs are subtly propelled by tape loops. Her voice has an evanescent grace that will remind some of Beth Orton; her lyrics, in contrast, often have the confessional bluntness of Liz Phair. The best songs on this album--the sweetly numb title track, the jangling All I Want--are dreamlike but not soporific, confident yet not overpowering.

--By Christopher John Farley