Refreshing "Marce" bares soul

In a world of music dominated by studio-produced shams constantly forced down our throats, FIU's own Marcela Piñeros' first album, Marce, is a refreshing reminder of what true talent really is. Like Jewel's debut Pieces of You, Marce is a collection of soulful folk ballads suffused with an underdog charm. Substituting big studio glitter with raw talent, Piñeros puts together a solid album that reminds us why the independent music industry merits our support. (The album is available only through her site, www.marcesmusic.com.)

The twelve tracks consist mostly of vocals and guitar and demonstrate Piñeros' innate lyrical ability that despite an impressive debut, seems to have only broken the surface. "Imperfection," "The Critic's Song" and "Drowning in a Tear Drop," a one and half minute flash of precocious folk wisdom ("sitting high on the edge of madness/don't look up cause the sun will blind you"), are each self-reflective ballads with a somewhat conversational structure remi