I happened into a well-known coffee shop and heard loud voices, coffee grinders and blenders, but I also heard bits and pieces of a haunting song sung in a passionate voice by a young woman over in the corner of the shop. I found out it was Sarah Severson singing Breathe from her newly released album: To These Unknown. Something about what I was hearing took hold of me and I immediately purchased the CD and took it home. The songs are ALL excellent. The lyrics are deep and Sarah's voice is full of passion. Her songs speak to our common human experience of loneliness and longing but also of hope. She's one of those artists that's going places. She's the real deal. You can just tell.

We probably could do without yet another introspective and brooding singer/songwriter. Even the better ones are starting to wear thin—particularly as they rake in great, steaming piles of cash while whining about (a) the state of the planet, (b) their relationships, or (c) some sort of strife. So it was with a wary ear that I first gave listen to Seattle musician Sarah Severson’s debut To These Unknown. To my surprise, it’s good—quite good, even, such that I’m willing to rethink my position on the genre. Granted, this is not particularly ground-breaking stuff: Severson’s voice, full and dark, is a lot like Natalie Merchant’s (not her fault, of course); the arrangements are relatively safe; and, yes, she sings about relationships. But something about To These Unknown is more palatable than the current spate of Winsome Girl Experiences Torment albums. It’s less cloying and more, dare I say, honest. And it’s musically interesting—to a degree. Some atmospheric guitar work, a la Angelo Badalamenti, pricks up the ears, and there’s even a couple of meter changes mid-song. Severson’s vocals, meanwhile, are an admixture of the usual breathy pain and disillusion. To These Unknown is an impressive debut. Severson isn’t charting any new musical courses here; what she has done is take the road well-traveled, do it better than most, and point out a few things that those who’ve gone before her have missed.

Sarah's music is a moving tribute to the progression of the human spirit as it yearns for transformation through the sorrows and trials of life. A rare voice which so eloquently guides the listener through her vulnerable, yet transformative inner state. A young talent this committed and honest cannot help but soon be discovered and cherished by the listening masses.

Sarah sneaks around the conventions that have mummified so many others.