“Resilience trumps regrets, but just barely, on Amy Speace‘s “That Kind of Girl” (Windbone), an album of post-breakup songs and other heartaches depicted with the succinctness of country tradition. “She and I shared a lie/Even though we’ve never met,” Ms. Speace sings, perfectly distilling a situation in “One Man’s Love.” She warns a commitment-shy boyfriend that she can do “Better Than This”; she wrestles with desire in “Nothing Good Can Come From This” and, more wryly, in “Trouble Looks Good on You.” In the mysterious “Strange Medicine,” she’s pregnant with a child “I knew I could not claim.” And in “That Kind of Girl,” she admits, “I let you get to me/It felt like the end of the world.” Ms. Speace made the album in three days of sessions in Nashville, recording live in the studio with a small band, and the music is unadorned but finely considered. It dips into blues, honky-tonk and gospel along with hymnlike piano ballads. Even when Ms. Speace is sad or bitter, her voice maintains its aplomb; as she spells out what has happened, she prizes grace over drama.”

“The next time someone tells you they don’t make good music anymore, tell them they must not have heard of Amy Speace. She is a timeless singer/songwriter who has captured this writer’s attention with a record which should be a topic of debate on several year-end award lists. Ms. Speace begins a cross country tour next week including four dates across the pond in England, so if you have the opportunity to catch this starlet on stage, don’t even think about it … just go. You can thank me later.”

“Amy Speace channels the classics”

“Haunting…emotionally diverse. ”

“Singer-songwriter Amy Speace’s “Better Than This,” off her most recent album, That Kind of Girl, is about taking back her life—about choosing to rejoin the living, rather than lose herself to despair. Now it gets video to match. In front of an idyllic background, Speace exorcises her demons. ”

“An abundantly overflowing treasure chest…Speace’s lyric captures raw emotions, muddled thoughts, and a yearning that occasionally still flickers.”

“4 Stars — Amy Speace seems to have taken a long time to arrive. Little known in the UK, she has recorded a series of engaging folk albums marked by a quiet beauty and emotional honesty. “That Kind of Girl”is her best so far. Speace’s voice and phrasing at times recalls Mary Chapin Carpenter. It’s a moody, atmospheric album that confirms Speace as both an accomplished songwriter and compelling performer who might just be on the brink of a major breathrough.”

“The record is an atmospheric, moody one that makes for a late-night soundtrack at a speakeasy where the lights are dim and the clientele consists of sad-eyed regulars who hug their drinks and lose themselves in the music that washes over them in warm waves. There are hints of languid jazz, scorned-woman country, gut-bucket blues and feisty rock ’n’ roll all thrown into the mix, and it’s all tempered by Speace’s ability to dissect that ill-fated relationship with a sober eye.”

“Amy Speace is quickly approaching a high plateau in terms of her artistic stature, arriving at that juncture touting some serious gravitas…and while she’s yet to become a mainstream star, it’s also evident that Speace is teetering on the verge of wider recognition. All of which leads to That Kind Of Girl, Speace’s latest album and the one that has the potential of taking her over the top.”