Entertainment Weekly
First Listen: Brandi Shearer
Hear a live version of the singer's ''Lullabies''
BRANDI SHEARER
By Leah Greenblatt

The San Francisco-based jazz chanteuse Brandi Shearer, best known for covering standards, offers a haunting live version of the swoony original song ''Lullabies'' from her latest release, Close to Dark. Produced by the famed Larry Klein (Peter Gabriel, ex-wife Joni Mitchell), Dark is Shearer's first CD on the Amoeba label, sprung from the beloved independent West Coast record chain, and is one for which she penned nearly all the tracks. To hear the live version of ''Lullabies,'' use the player below.

Brandi Shearer, whose "Close to Dark" is the first contempo release from indie retail powerhouse Amoeba Records label, preceded Regan, and her brief set showcased her impressively bluesy voice and songwriting.

There's more than a touch of Janis Joplin heft in the ballad, "You're Mine," but it's leavened by a sly humor: "You're a liar, you're a cheat," she moans, "but you're mine." Backed by an ace band, including guitarist Willie Aron, Shearer's set had a comfortable lived-in feeling, while Shearer always seemed ready to cut loose and start smashing the furniture.

Feeling burned by the near-pathological show-canceling of soul-belter Amy Winehouse? Then the singer you should get to know well is Brandi Shearer. Not only can Shearer stand up for lengths of time without wobbling, she has a heaven-sent, heart-shuddering vocal style that, like ol’ Wino, makes her sound worldly and seasoned well beyond her young years. Shearer’s just-out record, Close to Dark, was produced by Larry Klein (producer and ex-husband of Joni Mitchell, but you knew that) and will definitely appeal to fans of sultry ballads, with an emphasis on swooning melodies. When she delivers the line “My eyes flew open in the middle of the night” over and over, there’s even a ferocity that hints that Brandi Shearer may just be a tad crazy — just as we Winehouse fans like our singers.

[Amoeba Records'} first connect is with Brandi Shearer — her voice sails somewhere between Madeleine Peroux and Fiona Apple — whose own heart-felt melodies are both genuine and uniquely beautiful. 

Though she was born and raised an Oregon farm girl, singer/songwriter/ guitarist Brandi Shearer is a chanteuse, sultry and late-night seductive one moment then bold and big-voiced the next.

On "That's How You'll Know," the singer has whispery tenderness. "You're Mine" is a dark and bluesy tale of obsessive love. And there's a touch of country twang on "Congratulations" and "Oh Singer."

But when Shearer steps from behind the quietness of Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux she has a strong, clear and beautiful voice, evidenced on "Swampland" and "Close to Dark." DOWNLOAD: "Yes, Yes, Yes"

“Her voice is like a 12-year-old Scotch sipped out of a crystal glass and she oozes class from every pore… Shearer combines modern freshness with old-school attention to quality and the results are spectacular. “ 

“To Say Brandi Shearer has a great voice…would be like saying Michael Jordan has a good jump shot or that the Grand Canyon is a pretty big hole in the ground. The fact is Shearer’s voice…is such a thing of beauty that even an adoring description tends to fall short” 

Brandi Shearer’s Voice gets people swooning as soon as she starts singing. She could be a country crooner or a torch singer and her rich alto would fit perfectly in either setting, wringing every ounce of drama out of those vowels as she holds them in her mouth before releasing them.