Christy Altomare – Waiting For You

A variety of today’s musical artists have a large array of musical instruments and computerized dance beats backing up their sometimes less-than-desirable vocals. Not so for folk artist Christy Altomare, who captures the listener simply with her acoustic guitar and high, clear voice.

While Altomare is a relatively unknown artist, her music should easily put her at the top of your folk music chart. Her second album, “Waiting for You,” contains fourteen tracks of simple vocals and somewhat complex guitar accompaniment. The emotion in Altomare’s voice is clear, and her lyrics are catchy and relatable. Whether she’s singing about regret on “You’ll Never Know (for Adrien)” or a first crush in “I Can’t Believe I’m Falling,” it’s easy to tell Altomare truly means exactly what she’s singing about.

Altomare does a good job providing imagery with her tunes, such as in “Actor’s Paradise,” a song about a struggling actress who “Picks up the tips from under the cups of strangers, another useless job she needs to get around.

” And in “You’ll Never Know (for Adrien),” Altomare speaks of a guy whose “stupid shirts line the hallways out to dry.”

Altomare’s album is a wonderfully refreshing, unexpected album among the synthetic material of more popular tunes floating around the radio today. With a spin of originality on what can be overdone song topics, “Waiting for You” deserves at least one rotation on your iPod.