Heartache to Hope

Style: Contemporary pop; compare to Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole

Top tracks: “A Beautiful Mess,” “Hard to Carry,” “A Small Voice”

Since being discovered by Blessid Union of Souls singer Eliot Sloan, Spears’s star has risen faster than some other pop singer named Spears has fallen. Her first full-length album is filled with spiritually-grounded social commentaries as she weaves comforting and sublime vocals over gorgeously framed acoustics. Producer Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay, Bebo Norman) works the magic that puts her in the same angelic ballpark as Sarah McLachlan and Natalie Merchant.

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