Jenn Grant — Echoes

Echoes might require a few listens before its brilliance sinks in because it's so understated. Grant's voice is a mixture of Kate Bush and Feist with an east coast tinge, and it carries the record extremely well from start to finish. The masterful instrumental arrangements make it hard to believe that this is only Grant's second solo album. "Heartbreaker," "You'll Go Far" and "Fireflies" start quietly, but eventually build and become more complicated. This is definitely an album you'll have to listen to with headphones in order to fully appreciate it. There's a lot going on underneath Grant's voice and, if you have your stereo on quietly, you won't hear it. Grant's cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" brings something new to the song, with clarinets and strings that give it a completely different vibe. Young can be one of the hardest artists to cover well, and that Grant does so and leaves her own imprint on a classic song is testament to her skill. Echoes deserves to be on the 2009 Polaris Music Prize short list.

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