(Close Harbour Records)

http://www.myspace.com/emmythegreat

It's quite a bold statement to call oneself "The Great," (usually reserved for critics or those jealous types to make the important first move), but in the case of Emma-Lee Moss, we can't really argue. Like the many British duchesses bearing her suffix, 27-year-old Emmy the Great offers royal fairy tales of love, lust and world affirmations that would even impress Jane Austen. Her latest album Virtue, released last month on indie UK label Close Harbour Records, came at a time when Moss' former fiancée ended their relationship as he was converting to Christianity and, as such, the songwriter turned to books of theology for understanding and ultimately inspiration.

Emmy has since rebounded with Ash frontman Tim Wheeler, a union that has offered its own unique collaborations if not new fodder for her next album. But on her solo second release Virtue, Emmy showcases the best of hers with impeccable scribing and a haunting voice that could rival her former Lightspeed Champion co-mate Florence Welch.

Songs like "Dinosaur Sex," genius if not just for the title, tiptoes around a proverbial Pandora's box of evolutionary themes with lush string arrangements and Moss' innocent not a girl, not yet a woman vocal beauty. The magical mystery tour continues with the hyper choir number "A Woman, A Woman, A Century of Sleep," before the whimsical secret garden of first single "Iris." Later, "Sylvia" offers a more upbeat drum-guitar play around Emmy's cooing. While a large chunk of the album can droll on in lowly neo folk cadences, Emmy's vocal strength and writing prowess save the album from lullabies to one of Virtue.

DOWNLOAD: "Dinosaur Sex," "Paper Glow (In the Afterglow of Rapture)," "Sylvia" SELENA FRAGASSI