Piano-based songwriter Charlotte Martin will have the unfortunate distinction of being compared to Tori Amos in every review she receives, positive or negative. Do a Google search, you'll see. After all, how can a female pianist not sound something like Tori, as engrained and influential as she's been to the genre. Indeed Martin's debut EP did recall Tori, often a bit too closely, and left this reviewer wondering how she would be able to differentiate herself on her full-length. A year and much touring later and Martin finally has delivered that full-length, and it is a stunner.

Back to that Tori issue first, since I feel it will end up being Martin's Achilles heel, at least in the press. When Tori's debut Little Earthquakes was released, many reviewers initially wrote her off as a Kate Bush clone. This was true, to a degree, but really where would we be musically without Kate? Still ten years from Lillith, I'd bet. But it was Tori's live shows, numbingly intense, that were able to connect with a younger crowd of predominantly female listeners in a way that no artist has before or since. The word spread, and no one mentions Kate so much anymore. Tori was honest and unflagging, something that is rare enough to be shocking in today's fashion and genre-driven scene, and it helped distinguish her as an artist. Taken in this light, On Your Shore follows a very similar path as Little Earthquakes, at once a very strong nod to Kate Bush (listen closely to Limits Of Our Love and Every Time It Rains, which could literally be updated outtakes from Hounds Of Love), and the very direct emotional honesty that will appeal to a wide range of listeners looking for a little more substance in their music.

But Charlotte also has something that Kate and Tori never had. She's got that look. You know, the kind that could fit right in on O.C. And how she manages that look (or how much she allows others to manage it) could dictate her artistic survival. You know, beautiful enough to get noticed, but too beautiful to be taken seriously. And On Your Shore demands and deserves to be taken seriously.

Anyway, the songs. The opening lines from the eponymous opener "I dig my heels into the dirt, cause this one's gonna hurt" set the tone for the rest of the disc. It is intense, catchy, unwavering and brutally honest. We can immediately hear an improved production level from her In Parentheses EP, but not so much that it detracts from the essence of the music. Strings rising above the thundering piano give a sea-like quality to On Your Shore, and a disorienting sense that is fitting for the material. Martin has a strong, distinctive voice that approaches the highs of Kate Bush while occasionally also soaring to operatic levels. On Your Shore is followed by the high wow-factor of Limits Of Our Love. Very different than anything on the EP, Limits is energetic, passionate and fierce. Lyrically, it is an ode to an accelerating romance; musically it is a complex, hip-shaking, time-shifting tour de force. It is everything that is missing from Top 40 music, while also having all of the makings of a Top 40 song. And it's the track that sticks with you, when you remove the headphones.

The highlight from the In Parentheses EP, You Armor, follows. It is well-positioned on the disc, as a low key piano-driven ballad. The recording seems to add additional orchestration from the EP version, but otherwise seems very faithful to the original. This is the track that brings Tori to mind the most- raw and emotionally direct: "Is your armor thin again, do I want to wear it down. Am I ready to come in, do you want to be found?" Another highlight follows immediately, the Peter Gabriel-esque Every Time It Rains. With thundering drums riding the mix above Martin's tinkling piano, the lavishly layered track is also the album's most euphoric. On its surface it's a very positive song about how her spirit gains strength in the rain and, to a lesser degree, faith ("I never needed light to see you"), but one can also see it as a mantra to surviving and appreciating the opportunity to overcome difficult times. It is a deep, psychological primal scream masquerading as a catchy pop song. The trip-hoppy Steel follows, recalling early Emm Gryner and then the low-key Sweet Chariot, which is perhaps the strongest showcase of Martin's impressive vocal range.

Martin picks up the pace with the frantic rhythms of Madman. One of the more idiosyncratic mixes on the disc, the track builds upon simple piano to a crescendo of thundering drums, fiery vocals and spiraling piano and then back down to earth again. Another emotional exorcism, Up All Night follows. With lines like "Every song that I sing, will be written by your face" and "It's 3 AM and I have been, in my head for quite some time" we know Martin is performing without a net.

Another very strong highlight on the disc is Beautiful Life. To have a track this powerful hiding 12 tracks deep on an album only serves to accentuate how remarkable a collection of songs this is. A gorgeous cello and piano driven ballad, Beautiful Life is perhaps Charlotte at her most lyrically inventive "Swim to the end of the river, until there's no shiver left in your spine." A cover of the Stones' Wild Horses closes out the disc, as sparse and dazzling a version as you're likely to hear. I would personally have preferred to see this as an unlisted bonus track or b-side, as the originals are so strong here as to not warrant the distraction of a cover. But it is a memorable cover, nonetheless.