Eliza Carthy

At 24, singing and fiddling sensation Eliza Carthy has got the world on a string. The latest in a growing line of folk-pop exports from Britain, she covers the same soundscapes as Dido, Beth Orton and Everything But the Girl, and creates some engaging tracks that make the most of her porcelain voice. Carthy plays with traditional sounds and styles, giving them the 2001 treatment. Folk laments and madrigals are blended with drum & bass beats and other modern instrumentation. Taking a page from the sexually charged lyrics of hit-makers like Alanis Morrissette and Liz Phair, Carthy also gets racy with some of the lines in these personal and passionate songs. "In the Company of Men" is this year's model of Phair's "Flower" or Morrissette's "You Oughta Know."