Lucy Schwartz - Life In Letters (2010)

It only took all of two minutes listening to twenty year old Lucy Schwartz to realize that she should demand stardom. On Life In Letters, her second full length CD, the singer-songwriter composed some top notch pop-rock songs, vocalized with gusto, and played a pretty mean piano. She did it all with the confidence and professionalism of a performer twice her age.

In some ways Schwartz is already a veteran. Her songs have appeared in the movie Shrek Forever and on TV's Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, ER, Private Practice, and Parenthood. She has also played live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Mitchell Froom, who also worked with Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney, ably handled the sessions, producing full sounding arrangements that enhance Schwartz's easily accessible melodies that get inside your head and just won't leave. The two opening tracks, "My Darling" and the single, "Graveyard" are tailor made for radio. The title track, "Shadow Man," and "Those Days" aren't far behind.

Schwartz also composes mature lyrics. On "Graveyard" she intelligently sings, "And you know you’re not there/When the wind in your hair goes right through you/And you know that you’re gone/When the sound of a song cannot soothe you/And it’s a difficult burden to bear/When you’re not quite there." The cryptic opening verse to "Rain City" proves that she has a lot to say. "This city’s always raining/When you haven’t got a coat/I once was a grand pianist/But I can’t recall a note." The lyrics to this breakup song coalesce as the song progresses and it's so full of wisdom that it feels like it had to be written by somebody much older than a young lady barely out of her teens.

It's rare when an artist can do it all but on Life In Letters Lucy Schwartz proves that she is a complete package.

Listen to "My Darling" and the official music video to "Graveyard."