FMA

A rising soul star swings for the fences. The debut album from Australian powerhouse Grace Sewell is a confident package of ballads that toggle between pleading love songs (“Coffee,” “Feel Your Love”) and reckonings of independence ("Hell of a Girl,” “You Don’t Own Me,”). The latter is a cover of Lesley Gore’s 1963 feminist anthem, and, like the original, was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones. It's a challenge that would intimidate most young artists, but Sewell, who has the swagger of Amy Winehouse and the muscle of Etta James, rises to the task.