I’m blown away by Kristina Train's debut release "Split Milk." I haven’t heard a voice that’s so stunningly contemporary, open and accessible since Norah Jones hit the headlines in 2002 when she too was launched into the musical skies by Blue Note. As hard as it is to believe, "Spilt Milk" is a debut album and Kristina Train a complete newcomer.

"Spilt Milk" is Kristina Train. The album is a show case for Train’s amazingly sultry voice, an instrument totally unlike any other I’ve heard; clearly jazz based with heavy blues and soul influences, plus a little country grit coupled with the power of musical theatre and you might just about have it. Or put it this way, she wouldn’t be out of place belting out a Bond song, or one suspects, collecting a Grammy.

That Aretha Franklin is Train’s musical touchstone comes as no surprise; Train, who comes from Georgia and has a church-singing, gospel background, packs a song with the same easy musical power and range as Aretha, coupled with the emotional intensity of Dusty Springfield (another of Train’s major influences).

In "Spilt Milk" she benefits from the exceptional skills of London-based Jimmy Hogarth, whose recent production credits include Duffy, James Blunt, Beverley Knight and Corinne Bailey Rae. Hogarth makes a perfect team with Eg White, the powerhouse writer, arranger and musician best known for his long-term collaboration with Amy Winehouse and his Grammy nomination for Adele’s "Chasing Pavements."

So as you’d expect, the arrangements on the album’s eleven tracks, many of them co-written by Train with Eg White and are created with world-wide audiences in mind. But since the album is a vehicle for Train’s vocal talents, the music never draws attention away from the main instrument that is Train’s luscious, emotive drawl. It’s Kristina Train’s voice that is showcased throughout. For that reason many of the songs have a similar, anthemic quality; verses are soft and powerful choruses rise on strings, or horns, or both at some points. But what is so delightfully surprising about "Spilt Milk" is how it presents Kristina Train’s musical identity. Few female jazz or blues singers ever achieve this degree of recognition.

The title track; 'Spilt Milk,' begins with Nora Jones-like guitar but unfolds majestically with a classic piano in the style of early Jamie Cullum. The bittersweet and memorable 'Don’t Remember' has gigantic string's and a brass chorus. 'It’s Over Now' is a track Dusty would have been happy to perform, with a catchy hook and old-fashioned soaring strings, drums and horns, and 'While I Can’t But Help,' with it’s gospel beginnings, bathes the listener in vocal warmth and will surely be picked up by radio across the globe.

It isn’t perfect but "Spilt Milk" is undoubtedly an exceptional album. It launches a new and very welcome talent into the jazz / blues / soul arena, a talent that is both contemporary and accessible, looks like a goddess, emotes like Billie Holiday, delivers warmth like Alison Krauss, truth like Bonnie Raitt and can belt out a tune like Tina Turner. With her effortless vocal delivery and the support of Blue Note, it’s impossible that Kristina Train won’t become a global superstar. Mark my words. And I’m opening a book on that Grammy.