When Joy Williams singed her first record deal 10 years ago, she was a 17-year-old marketed as Christian pop’s answer to Britney Spears. A couple years later, she surprised everyone with her sophomore album, By Surprise, demonstrating songwriting and a more mature sound that drew comparisons to Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch. Her sound matured even more for album No. 3, Genesis … and then she walked away from her record deal.

 

Turns out Williams needed time off to rethink her music career. She’s kept busy since 2005 writing songs for other artists, and in 2008 she launched sensibility music with her husband. Now she’s the flagship artist of her own label, releasing music at her own pace. So far there have been 4 EPs, a couple singles, and a rootsy/folk side project with singer-songwriter John Paul White called The Civil Wars (think The Swell Season or Damien Rice). In fact, two of her songs have already been featured on Grey’s Anatomy and Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva.

 

But back to those EPs. Williams’ style has changed considerably since Genesis, taking on a new sophistication that resembles artists like Cindy Morgan, Nichole Nordeman, and Leigh Nash. Each effort has been a little different, with her latest, We Mapped the World, being the most alternative yet, closer in spirit to the delicate pop style of Sarah Masen, Kate Bush, and Charlotte Martin.

 

“We Mapped the World” matches an interesting handclap rhythm with a dancing piano part and Williams’ layered backing vocals. “Tightrope” treads closer to the indie vibe of Ingrid Michaelson or Regina Spektor, combining piano and strings with lots of reverb, not to mention a playful instrumental section reminiscent of a circus in the middle. “Woman of a City” offers the darkest mood of the set (sort of similar to Tori Amos) as well as the most repetitive lyrics. The most accessible track is “Lover, Find Your Cover,” which allows William’s singing to shine the most over gentle piano with a rich melody and poetic lyrics.

 

I love that Williams has so radically evolved her sound since her teens, and that she’s exploring themes that go beyond typical Christian pop songwriting. That said, she doesn’t touch on her faith much in her writing these days, which isn’t a problem as far as I’m concerned except that the words here are simplistic, abstract, or both. At the other end of Williams’ creative spectrum, as heard on her other EPs, are a lot of bouncy, sunshiney love songs.

 

There’s wide room for middle ground, of course, and Williams has demonstrated as much in some instances. Her digital single “If You Wanna Go” from last fall has a similar style to this EP, but it has a better mix and more accessible lyrics. Said differently, it’s more memorable than what’s heard on the We Mapped the World.

 

Sometime after all of her tinkering with modern singer-songwriter styles, Williams is going to find her niche and put out a stronger, more cohesive album that will likely draw on the best of all these EP experiments.

 

Standouts: “Lover, Find Your Cover,” “Tightrope,” “We Mapped the World”