(30 December 2006) A lot of roads lead to Holly Brook (the singer, not a picnic destination). There's the hip-hop path, on which plenty of next-big-thing predictors got to know her through her collaboration with Fort Minor on The Rising Tide (her haunting chorus on "Where'd You Go" became an instant hit). Then there's the TV path, on which anybody with an ear for pop with staying power could have chosen between a couple of trails: both the NBC show Conviction and the WB series Related have featured her plaintive song "What I Wouldn't Give" off this, her debut.

Holly Brook's debut album is entitled Like Blood Like Honey (Warner Brothers Records (USA) 9362 49298-2, 2006). It is a collection of eleven singer/songwriter-styled tracks. In the run up to the release earlier this year we caught up with Holly to discuss her background, the album, and her thoughts towards the future. The results of our interview are joined by photographs of the artist courtesy of the label and artist's MySpace site.

If you search out this piano-propelled 20-year-old star in the making, though, you won't be sorry. In the space of three songs, she recalls a decade's worth of singer-songwriters twice her age, and in an unhurried, stylish way that suggests she's doing it handily. A wrenching Tori Amos vibe weaves through "Again & Again," a track that recalls Shawn Colvin in equal measure; Suzanne Vega circa Solitude Standing surfaces in the vivid short verses of "Saturday"; and Sarah McLachlan seeps out over most of the vocals, but especially those on "Give It Up for You" and the lovely "Cellar Door."

Joni Mitchell is the association Brook was going for--she cites her as influence number one--but comparisons with the more obvious mentors can't come as much of a bummer. The Joni connection may surface yet: Like Blood Like Honey is surely a trickle in a long career to come.--Tammy La Gorce at amazon.com and Russ Elliot in New York