Monica Behan: Right Where I Need to Be

Drawing upon the wistful beauty of Joni Mitchell and the confessional ache of Carole King, Monica Behan's voice commands immediate attention. There is an ethereal quality to her singing that illuminates track after track on her new album Right Where I Need to Be. No matter what genre she decides to explore, from vocal jazz to acoustic pop, Behan's vocals defy gravity and lift off into the heavens.

On the opening tune, "Time to Fly," it is Behan's vocals that soar through the skies. The dreamy playfulness of her voice, reminiscent of Harriet Wheeler of the Sundays, is already a hook; it mesmerizes the ears, an ethereal croon that quickly casts a hypnotic spell. "Traveling along, moving with grace/The winds are not so heavy now," Behan sings, breathing an air of blissful liberation as co-producer Clarence Penn's plush synths provide a comforting undertow. "Time to Fly" is about renewal, finding inner peace and emotional strength after a romantic split, a theme that haunts other songs on the record.

The gorgeous balladry of "I Wanna Love You Like That" recalls the wind-swept acoustic pop of early '70s AM radio. Daniel Jobim lends his soulful baritone in this bittersweet duet. Behan's honey-warm singing and Jobim's midnight-hour vocals are mesmerizing in their back and forth. Chris Bruce's crystalline guitar on "Truer Than Blue" highlights Behan's folk roots in dazzling fashion. Behan's cover of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," a Broadway classic later popularized by the Platters, is downright startling. Accompanied just by keyboards and drums, Behan's incandescent voice takes center stage, fragile and intimate. Pristine production from Penn and Grammy winner Russ Titelman deliver the clarity and shine needed to plumb the depths of Behan's singing and writing. The result is a magnificent balance of art and pop.