When you listen to Laura Wolfe, you can't help but notice her powerful, clear voice. It also quickly becomes obvious that her musical influences are quite varied, ranging from folk to blues, R&B to pop-sounding songs. It's the result of growing up in a musical household on New York's Lower East Side and gaining exposure to a wide range of musical styles.

Her first full-length CD Siren is an enjoyable collection of original songs. The CD opens with "Breathe," one of the folkier songs combining a soothing melody and lyrics with some nice uilleann pipes by Ivan Goff. "Uma," with its sitar hook, has a folk/Middle Eastern sound to it. "Naked" has a much more up-tempo rock/'70s R&B sound. "Nuclear Love" and the title track with its melody and lyrics sound like something you might hear from Ani diFranco. The CD closes with "City Child," which has an up-tempo pop/Latin feel to it.

Siren was produced by Steve Addabbo, who is best known for his work with Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega. It includes a great group of musicians. His production really allows Laura to showcase her strong voice, which in her case is a very good thing. While Laura is part of a fairly large group of female singer-songwriters who write personal lyrics while experimenting with different musical influences, her music is quite enjoyable and well worth a listen.

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