Heart Shaped World

Jessica Andrews was country's top-selling debut artist of 1999--quite an accomplishment for a 15-year-old girl and a record label that hadn't done much heavy lifting in Nashville. But Heart Shaped World sells itself, and not just to the same teenage girls who initially followed LeAnn Rimes. Unlike Rimes, Andrews isn't out to top the diva list, but to communicate wholesome truths about love ("The Riverside") and loss (Benmont Tench's "Unbreakable Heart"). OK, maybe "Hungry Love" seems too backwoods gothic for a suburban teen, but its message--about the downside of sex too soon--will surely hit home with the middle-school set. Of course, nothing about Heart Shaped World is truly country, despite the faint strains of fiddle and banjo, but the production is never vulgar or over the top à la Faith Hill's Breathe, and the sweet-voiced Andrews brings a surprising maturity and knowing delivery to the material. If the new teens are intent on owning Nashville, let's hope they all do it with this kind of taste and class. --Alanna Nash