Sweet Heart Fever

The beguiling Scout Niblett of Nottingham, England, is a somebody who's worth getting to know. First off, she's going to be around for some time; second, she's not the sort of lass who dips a toe in the water only to opt not to take a swim. Her debut album "Sweet Heart Fever" is the first fruit of the artistic partnership with the inventive drummer Kristian Goddard, and is a pretty incredible and grand unveiling of her talent for songcraft. Bringing to mind the harrowing intensity of PJ Harvey's debut "Dry," "Sweet Heart Fever" is an album whose exterior calm is betrayed by a fantastic inner storm -- the likes of which the legions of card-carrying members of the Trans-global Network of Damaged Souls love to immerse themselves in, if only to feel a little more potent and vital for a 40-minute stretch.

For someone who can rock as hard as Scout Niblett (her live show is full of Sonic Youth-like discordant freak-outs), it must be said that it came as a bit of a surprise when she recorded the slow, moody, and menacing "Sweet Heart Fever." Sure as hell, she'll turn heads of anyone who's ever raced across a bedroom floor to flip sides of a Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention, Van Morrison, Laura Nyro, or even Liz Phair record.