"No matter how much time you spend with me I want more"

I discovered Elizabeth Harper.... when a friend of mine, Simon Storey posted a couple of photos he'd taken for her. (He takes magnificent pictures, by the way, so go and have a look at his work when you get a couple of spare minutes. That's one of his at the top.) Apparently his work wasn't credited in several places - boo hiss! - but it got me to go to her website and listen to a couple of tracks. They were fan-bloody-tastic and it wasn't long before I'd bought her album. It quickly became one of my two favourite records of that year and that rarely is the case with albums I buy in January. Particularly astonishing is the fact that it's her debut and sounds so accomplished from start to finish. Observe:

Elizabeth Harper - Low Tide mp3 (left click, available for 7 days)

Apparently New York-based Ms Harper learnt to play guitar with the aid of tabs of Elliott Smith songs and spent her formative years listening to the likes of The Smiths and The Cure. She has toured the UK, opening for The Long Blondes and has also opened for Johnny Marr at the Mercury Lounge. Does any of this put you off? Me neither!

Elizabeth Harper - Let Me Take You Out mp3 (right click and save as)

Her website is never up to date and I haven't heard anything new for a while, but I'm definitely not bored of her self-titled debut album yet. Still, if you're reading, Elizabeth, how about a second album, eh?

Elizabeth Harper - Trouble At The Palace mp3 (right click and save target as)

You can buy Elizabeth Harper's fantastic debut album from Angular Records for a measly £6. I can rarely be arsed to learn other people's songs properly, but I can play Harper's song Rock Like A Baby, which can be streamed at her myspace page. Good, isn't it?