Kath Bloom

The name may not ring a bell, but anyone who's ever viewed Richard Linklater's remarkable film romance Before Sunrise will instantly recognize Kath Bloom's music -- her impassioned "Come Here" is the song that the tense, tentative Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) play while crowded in a Viennese record store's old listening booth. Because there was no official soundtrack to Before Sunrise, it's taken Bloom's self-released Come Here: The Florida Years to make the song commercially available -- it's alone worth the price of admission, but the disc's 13 other entries are similarly beautiful and equally worth investigation. Like "Come Here," Bloom's other material favors lilting, folky melodies and tasteful arrangements, but her enchanting vocals are the real draw -- poignant and tremulous, hers is the kind of voice that resonates with genuine emotion while more conventional singers reveal nothing. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide