Ximena Sarinana

The youthful Mexican singer-songwriter Ximena Sarinana may have mastered the neat trick of singing as if she's felt so much that she's lapsed into detachment, but her lyrics are anything but detached on this charming debut. Sarinana plays it cool, but with a melodic clarity that sparkles throughout. Is she Latin alt's next great heroine? Not quite yet. The bulk of Mediocre doesn't live up to its stellar opening songs, but neither does it bear any relation to its deceptive title. A more-than-promising first effort.

It's one of the strongest debuts from a female singer-songwriter since Norah Jones' Come
Away With Me. From the robust title track to the cool piano-based pop of "Normal," this
Mexican actress-turned-singer belts out jazz- and blues-influenced songs with poetic lyrics
and imaginative production; on songs like "La Tina," Sariñana's vocals conjure Billie Holiday
behind a bank of hip-hop-flavored beats. There's sultry torch songs, folky ballad... More >