http://www.q-notes.com/2594/under-the-influences/

Read any press release promoting a new album and you'll find a paragraph crowing
that the collection was influenced by this legendary artist or by that classic
album. It's a simple, effective way to hook the media and create buzz among
taste-making record buyers. After getting burned a few times, though, you
understand that it's hype and hyperbole that's rarely evident in the work.

When I read the promo packets that arrived with Mandy Moore's new album, "Amanda
Leigh," and Diane Birch's debut, "Bible Belt," I couldn't stifle an eye-roll for
the youthful artists' temerity. The former name-checked all-time greats like
CSNY, Joni Mitchell and Todd Rundgren, while the latter listed giants Laura Nyro
and Carole King as guiding spirits. Mm-hm, riiight.

Well, imagine the stunned look on my face when I played the discs through in one
enthralling listening session and found the fingerprints of those respective
masters all over the two releases.

Rundgren is a particular touchstone for Mandy Moore's set. The shimmering pop
melodies that buoy "Amanda Leigh" (Storefront Recordings) — the 25-year-old's
actual first and middle names — recall the beauty of "Something/Anything?,"
Rundgren's double-album masterpiece from '72.

Opening "Amanda" stunner "Merrimack River" declares right up front that Moore is
soaring through the rare air of "I Saw The Light," "Hello It's Me" and "The
Night The Carousel Burned Down," heavenly highlights from "S/A?."

The secret of Moore's success is Mike Viola, her producer and co-writer and the
album's chief instrumentalist. He confidently guides the singer to full artistic
adulthood, helping her shed the last coquettish vestiges of her former teen
stardom.

Whether she's singing an aching ballad ("Everblue") or a playful pop romp ("I
Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week"), Moore responds with one assured
vocal performance after the next, ably supported by Viola's sterling harmonies
and backgrounds.

Thankfully, the project is never constrained by the pair's overt, potentially
staid preoccupation with artistic growth. Running just below the surface is a
quirkiness ("hahaha, lalala" refrains, farting Farfisa organs, clavinet
punctuations) that imbues the set with life and invention. "Amanda Leigh" is a
winner from top to bottom.