In WrightвЂ™s hands, the country classic becomes a little piece of haunting blues perfection. Particularly noteworthy is her cover of Patsy ClineвЂ™s вЂќStrange.вЂќ Wright slows down the tempo to a contemplative crawl, chewing over sentiments about how she never stopped loving someone whoвЂ™s loving someone new. In addition to eight originals, Wright offers revelatory interpretations of songs made famous by blues-influenced artists including Ike and Tina Turner and Led Zeppelin. The Orchard is WrightвЂ™s third album in less than five years of recording. Wright will knock you out with lyrical power, stun you with beautiful, elegantly crafted melodies, shock you with vocal subtlety. The point is always to convey whatever emotions sheвЂ™s singing about - the message - then taking leave before your mind drifts to just how skillfully the message was delivered - the messenger.

But unlike Lewis and her pop predecessors, the point is never to showboat. She sometimes powers her smoky contralto to its full-throttle peak or its highest height.

Wright, 28, is a blues-fired R&B singer with a countrified bent and a gospel and jazz background. While the world swoons to LewisвЂ™ croons, Lizz Wright is the kind of singer we should hear more of, but donвЂ™t. Cue the choir, pluck the heartstrings - this is LewisвЂ™ now! вЂќIf you need a place where you can run, if you need a shoulder to cry on,вЂќ Lewis cries - to which you want to shout, вЂќA hero lies in youвЂќ - though this time around, itвЂ™s even less profound: вЂќIвЂ™ll always be your friend.вЂќД¬owell himself shares writing credit on another song, вЂќFootprints in the Sand,вЂќ which sounds exactly like the over-the-top type of song each yearвЂ™s Idol performs upon winning the title. The only song on which Lewis shares writing credit is вЂќHere I Am,вЂќ an almost note-for-note rework of CareyвЂ™s вЂќHero,вЂќ co-written by that hitвЂ™s co-writer himself, Walter Afanasieff. вЂќItвЂ™s gonna hurt when it heals too/ItвЂ™ll all get better in time,вЂќ she sings. ItвЂ™s about getting over the lover she seemingly just bled for.

And this album opener is immediately followed by вЂќBetter in Time,вЂќ another exceptionally strong song, this one the reverse of the last. вЂќBleeding LoveвЂќ is one exception, an appealing song, wrought with appropriately heavy feeling as Lewis sings about extraordinary love healing ordinary hurt. This overproduced album fails at the one thing it needed to do most: fully harness LewisвЂ™ talent, tying it to material as great as her voice. (Even she has her limits.) Though Lewis, 23, sounds great and certainly has great potential, Spirit is just too derivative and too predictable to inspire much cheering. Not only does Spirit too often sound like a decade-old album, it too often sounds like a decade-old album that Carey left behind, realizing it sounded too much like her past output. At CowellвЂ™s urging, Davis signed Lewis to his J Records, and then lead the all-star production work to create her debut album.Д«ut the no-expense-spared nature of creating and promoting this artist and especially this album is ultimately the most remarkable thing about the whole affair. Davis is the longtime label executive responsible for discovering Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys, to name just two. He also signed up American pop Svengali Clive Davis. Sure enough, sheвЂ™s succeeding in the plan, laid out for her when she won the Idol-esque British reality show X-Factor in 2006, with Cowell as her mentor.Д¬owell not only enlisted Winfrey in his plan. Leona Lewis has had American IdolвЂs Simon Cowell cooing in her ear for some two years, telling her how great she is, how sheвЂ™s the next Mariah Carey, how with his help she can conquer the world.

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