LAURA IZIBOR

Click above to watch Laura Izibor perform "Don't Stay" live

Being different has always worked to Laura Izibor's advantage. As one of the few black singers in Dublin, she was the go-to warm-up act when soul artists came to town. "My manager read the paper one morning and saw that James Brown was coming, but he didn't have an opener," says Izibor, 21, whose husky croon and spunky, piano-powered songs have earned her comparisons to Aretha Franklin and Alicia Keys. "He rang me in class and said, 'Laura, I need you to get off school early. You're supporting James Brown tonight.' " Years before sharing a stage with the Godfather of Soul, Izibor was singing homemade love songs into a karaoke machine. At 15, she entered an Irish song competition with a tune called "Are We Compatible" and won. The recognition helped her score a record deal, and at 17 she quit school to work on her debut, Let the Truth Be Told. (Her Shine EP is available on iTunes now; the LP drops in 2009.) With its you-go-girl pop ("Shine"), slow-rolling funk ("Yes [I'll Be Your Baby]") and gospel-tinged ballads ("Mmm"), Truth is a sunny, chick-flick-worthy take on vintage soul. No wonder Al Green likes it: The Reverend flirted with Izibor when she opened for him in Dublin last year. "He started wiggling a champagne bottle at me," she says. "His manager said, 'Al wants to meet you — would you like to go in his dressing room?' Half of me was like, 'I hope he's not a pervert.' And the other half was like, 'I don't care — it's Al Green!' " NICOLE FREHSÉE

HOME BASE Dublin

FOR FANS OF Alicia Keys, Natasha Bedingfield, Corinne Bailey Rae

SPIN THIS "Shine," a pop confection marked by bouncy piano chords, Stax-style horns and a touchy-feely message that exudes Oprah-style positivity.

Photograph by Theo Wenner

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