Rolling Stone's Artists to Watch: The Rockers and Rappers Who Will Dominate 2007

Becky Stark, the voice behind the Los Angeles folk-pop group Lavender Diamond, has been planning a musical revolution since she was a kid. "I grew up having so much faith in pop music," Stark recalls. "When Purple Rain came out, my mom let me stay home so I could listen to it." With the May release of Imagine Our Love, Stark — whose utopian ideology would come off as flaky if it weren't for her endearingly wide-eyed enthusiasm — finally has the chance to bring her romantic take on pop to the people. "Having the radio corrupted by sounds that were an insult to my ears, I just reached a point where I was like, 'Fuck this!''the thirty-year-old declares. "If nobody else is going to try, then I'll try."

THE FORMULA (The Carpenters - Anorexia) + Idealism = Lavender Diamond

SOUND On Imagine Our Love, Stark's crystalline soprano is showcased against a background of hypnotically rhythmic piano, guitar and drums. It's a formula the band has developed since last year's pretty but precious EP The Cavalry of Light. "I became totally obsessed with making something that's clear — you can hear the words and the melody and it's simple, like Linda Ronstadt," the singer says.

MUST-HAVE TRACK "Side of the Lord"
A country-pop hymn for the damaged hipster heart.

PEACE TRAIN While the band was touring Europe this winter with the Decemberists, Stark had to answer lots of skeptical questions about her hippie ideals. "Journalists would ask me, 'Is this a joke when you talk about peace?' It's like, wow, what a world it is that I'm weird for talking about peace and love," says Stark, a classically trained singer who studied literary theory at Brown before she began performing as Lavender Diamond in 2003. "I really believe in the power of music to guide culture. With our music, we just want to bring joy to people. It's a pretty simple plan." ELIZABETH GOODMAN

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