Polly Paulusma, Leaves From The Family Tree

At first listen, I want to easily throw Polly Paulusma into a category with Jewel (before Jewel went country) and call her some kind of female singer/songwriter and have that be the end of it. The more I listen to Leaves From The Family Tree, however, the less I hear the Jewel comparisons that I once thought were there, for some reason.

There is quite a bit of piano on this album, and quite honestly it comes out more like R&B or blues/jazz than it does folk or anything acoustic sounding. It has a very mellow and peaceful vibe to it often, kind of like a coffee house singer if you will. If I was cruel I’d say it reminded me of Macy Gray, but I really do believe it more closely resembles the musical stylings of Billie Holiday (which becomes more apparent as the album goes on), which can either be a blessing or a curse depending upon your point of view.

Ultimately, this could be a huge album. It just which one of two ways this ends up going. Either Adele will open the door for many more women to be much more powerful in music… or Adele will hold down the other women and this album will be passed over in favor of everyone’s favorite voiceless singer. Which do you think is more likely? Honestly, I’m hoping for Polly Paulusma to pull out a big win here, but the odds are just not in her favor.