Instead of being content with being known as that label where great artists go to die (i.e. Merle Haggard, Tom Waits and Nick Cave), Anti has recently acquireed some up-and-coming artists that will surely make a splash in the years to come. Jolie Holland already released the most excellent Escondida earlier this year (who loves ya girl!). New Pornographers front woman Neko Case - whom I have the biggest dork crush on - will release her first album for Anti in November. And newcomer A Girl Called Eddy has been generous enough to finally drop her very first album after making us wait nearly three years since her debut EP.

A Girl Called Eddy, A.K.A. Erin Moran is a one-woman show. She did have enough smarts however to find that special someone to produce her and show her the ropes: Pulp guitarist, Longpigs front man and solo work extraordinaire Richard Hawley. Fresh off his excellent Lowedges album, Hawley invited Moran to England to work on A Girl Called Eddy while Pulp hopefully gets their shit together. Moran obliged, and what's been pressed to disc is an album full of despair that, like the album cover, brings a chill to your soul.

Moran's vocals are definitely comparable to the likes of someone like an Aimee Mann, and the subject matter is about the same. "Kathleen," which is a sorrowful tale about Moran's deceased mother, is heartbreaking to say the least, while "Heartache" just about brings the house down with almost nothing more than Erin's voice to do so. "The Long Goodbye" is one of the few rockers here, and Moran makes sure that it's good enough to make you beg for more. Other than a few too many schmaltzy production choices by Hawley ("People Used To Dream About The Future" just begs to be compared to Barbra Streisand's People), A Girl Called Eddy is an encouraging debut from an artist that looks to be a rising star.