This Monday, artist Christy Thompson released her first self-titled EP at Pianos in NYC. She performed seven songs from her new album, and her performance had all the contrived hallmarks of a pop/rock show. . . but no real meat. Don’t get me wrong. The girl can sing, she has mastery over her voice which is somewhat undermined by the lyrical nature of the songs (typical girl love-angstey-ish) and the fact that her sound was all over the place. It’s the usual dilemma with new artists; they are so used to doing covers and listening to others that they go schizo and hop-scotch from one aesthetic to another, never really making anything their own. You could compare Christy to anyone from Miley Cyrus to Flyleaf to Hayley Williams from Paramore; and the songs are no exception. You go from titles like, “Rock N’ Roll Baby”, because as Thompson announced, “I am a rock and roll baby”. which is sadly reminiscent of a Britney Spears-Mandy Moore hybrid. Then you get the cacophonous sounds of more melodramatic punk pieces like, “ Be My Friend” (which actually showed off Thompson’s vocal range and was the most impressive piece).

Thompson has the ability to evolve her sound into something distinct. Her lyrics sounds as if they fell from the Top 40 charts into her open diary, but there is an edge to her that could be exploited to create something new. There aren’t really any holes to fill out in the music world for a generic solo female singer; we demand a twist with our divas nowadays, so it’s a little difficult to imagine a big Christy Thompson break-through. She has enough stage presence to be a true artist, maybe if she can add a little presence of mind in her songs she stands a chance in the cut-throat industry she’s pursuing.

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