Heat Sin Water Skin,Bettysoo ***

"She strums, she sings, she picks. She writes, she talks a lot. She tells funny and embarrassing stories. She doesn't pick her nose." So goes second-generation Korean American Bettysoo's biog in her blog. It could add that her singing and songwriting is top-notch, if a tad predictable. This album, released in the US in 2009 but only now available on this side of the Atlantic, is replete with the kind of clear-voiced, slow-burning, slightly self-conscious angst – including Whisper My Name and Just Another Lover – that melts hearts, although Bettyboo, leaning heavily on producer Gurf Morlix's instrumental prowess, can add impressive muscle as well – see Still Small Voice and Get Clean. The Asian migrant experience in the US sadly doesn't register; Bettysoo's charms are strictly Americana-based and pretty impressive at that. See bettysoo.com

Download tracks:Get Clean, Whisper My Name