Michelle Branch: The Spirit Room : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

"Tell me how I got this far?" asks eighteen-year-old Michelle Branch on her first single, the incessantly catchy, guitar-boosted "Everywhere to Me." Winding through her eleven-song debut, one finds the answer to that inquiry lies, rather obviously, within Branch's own throat. Destined to appeal to the growing number of young music fans disillusioned by the vapid teen pop scene, Branch renders an album that doesn't insult her listeners. Merging a genuine songwriting talent and a strong conviction, the Arizona native draws inspiration from mid-Nineties artists like Alanis and Jewel to churn out songs that real people can identify with. Devotion drives this project -- produced by John Shanks (Melissa Etheridge, SR-71) -- as outcasts seek out companionship on the airwave ripe "You Get Me" and hearts break on the swooning "All You Wanted." If Branch's subject matter fails to cover any new terrain, at least lyrics like "I'm a little left of center/Some people say I'm out of tune," exhibit some honesty. Spirit Room may not be flawless -- it's marred by a dated, canned drum production for one thing -- but with that voice guiding her, Branch makes an impressive entrance.

JOHN D. LUERSSEN
(August 13, 2001)