Erin McCarley - Yu Yī (2017)

Nashville-based singer/songwriter Erin McCarley emerged in 2009 with Love, Save the Empty, a beguiling alt-pop debut whose vibe fell somewhere between Patty Griffin and Fiona Apple. A native of Texas, McCarley cut her teeth as a musician in San Diego, eventually teaming up with producer/songwriter Jamie Kenney, with whom she co-wrote her debut. A move to Nashville and subsequent trip to Austin's SXSW Festival in 2008 brought her to the attention of Universal Republic, which issued her first album a year later. Buoyed by a number of key song placements and movie trailers, McCarley's album reached number 82 on Billboard's Top 200 and was followed in 2012 by her sophomore LP, My Stadium Electric, this time released exclusively to iTunes. By end of that year, she had left Universal and struck out on her own, developing new material with friends and collaborators in Nashville. Newly independent, McCarley returned in 2016 with a handful of new singles showcasing a more seductive, electronic-based sound and promoting her impending third album. ~ Timothy Monger