Lucky Lady or Lady Luck

Model turned surfer turned singer/songwriter Tristan Prettyman has released a debut album to be reckoned with. Twentythree includes 11 solid tracks dealing with familiar issues that most twenty-three-year-old females face. Prettyman’s vocals take center stage in an anything but amateur offering. The first single, “Love Love Love,” includes effortlessly folksy vocals that are so light, they flow with perfect ease (complete with scats). The vocal composition doesn’t waver throughout the album, which is where the charm lies. It’s a getaway from the ordinary. The lyrics tend to focus primarily on love, but isn’t that what’s on most twenty-three-year-olds’ minds? However, “Song For The Rich,” the most sophisticated track on the record, addresses the issue of drug abuse with friends. “What’s wrong with a little bit of experimentation to/ Open the eyes of the new generation well/ Build your world on a cocaine foundation and/ Watch it all blow away.”

Prettyman’s all-star entourage is nothing to scuff about either. The band on Twentythree includes bassist Lee Alexander, who recorded for Norah Jones, drummer Matt Johnson, who worked with Jeff Buckley, and percussionist Leon Mobley, who has Ben Harper on his resume. Buddy gone beau Jason Mraz co-wrote “Shy That Way” and lent his vocals, making it a heartfelt duo. Josh Deutsch has been busy producing both Twentythree and Mraz’s recent release Mr. A-Z. Above all, Jack Johnson has been backing and mentoring lovely Tristan since the beginning.

Prettyman isn’t a fish out of water with this group, though; her song “Anything At All” was a hit on the 2001 surf film success “Shelter.” Twentythree is a comprehensive debut from a comprehensive lady.