Album Review: Odette - To A Stranger

When the then barely 20-year-old Sydneysider Georgia 'Odette' Sallybanks assuredly made her mark on last year's Hottest 100 (with the astonishing Watch Me Read You), it lured an enviable list of producer names to her phone's 'favourites' list.

The calls were cannily made, with the likes of Paul Mac and Jason Cox (Gorillaz, Jamie T) furnishing Odette with defter flourishes than their usual productions while Damian Taylor (Bjork, The Temper Trap) does most of the button pushing.

Just like her debut single, Lotus Eaters skitters between soulful singing and performance poetry, this time with nary more than a humbled grand piano giving an Alicia Keys meets an unweathered Patti Smith quality. Yet this fragile artist who claims to lack any real self-confidence sounds just as comfortable with stark backdrops as she does with a rich synth underscore and a guest spot from LANKS (on Onyx).

To A Stranger is definitely enriched by a 'less is more' MO and throughout this often confessional debut long player it is Odette's voice that takes the centre on what remains an intimately small stage.