Although still a teenager when she recorded her debut album,
Words Came Back to Me,
Sonya Kitchell made a noticeable impact with this 2006 release. The 12 original songs on the album owe a heavy debt to
Joni Mitchell and
Rickie Lee Jones, but they come across with a beautiful integrity and authority all their own.
Kitchell's songs are as influenced by soul and jazz as they are by folk, and the whole album has the organic, expressive feeling of the best singer/songwriter records of the 1970s.
Kitchell also has a penchant for remarkable hooks, and her lyrical content is honest, clever, and engaging, making for a nearly irresistible combination. That the album was picked up by Starbucks for the Hear Music Debut series, which made the album available in Starbucks stores, ensured
Kitchell would get the audience she deserves.