My Brightest Diamond is Shara Worden, a trained opera singer turned pop songwriter whose debut gathers all the essential elements of classical and pop to create an album that begins to break down the barriers of both worlds. These songs are simultaneously gentle and urgent, evoking moments of tremendous joy and sorrow with the magnitude of Italian opera and the modesty of a Japanese haiku. Worden can channel the vocal theatrics of Kate Bush, the soulful seductiveness of Nina Simone, and the gothic pop of Portishead, sometimes in one song. Her songwriting blurs the lines between rock show and recital, and while her vocal lines reach for Puccini, her guitar style is akin to Blonde Redhead or PJ Harvey.