I don’t know what I expected from newcomer Francesca Battistelli, but for sure, it wasn’t what I got when I popped her debut CD My Paper Heart into my stereo.
I thought maybe I’d get an earful of dance drivel or cookie cutter pop. Instead, I got bluesy piano-driven rock and smoky vocals from an artist with something to say.
From the first beat of the opening track, “Free to Be Me” to the funky title cut to the bouncy “Blue Sky” Battistelli belts out songs about hope and faith with sincerity, maturity and energy.

What I love is that the songs aren’t preachy; any fan of artists like Nora Jones or Corinne Bailey Rae could give the CD a spin and find something to like. “Someday Soon,” for example, is a soulful love song about someday meeting her soul mate, but without the obligatory, sappy “I’ll wait for you” lyrics.
Battistelli comes from a musical family. Her father was the assistant conductor for the traveling production of “The King and I;” her mom played the part of Anna, opposite Yul Brenner. After seeing a Broadway production of “The Secret Garden” young Francesca new that her life would revolve around music.
The first single from the album, “I’m Letting Go,” currently sits at #3 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs and #4 on the Hot Christian Adult Contemporary chart. Over at Radio & Records, the song is #4 on Christian Adult Contemporary chart and #3 on the Christian CHR chart.
In other words, if you’re listening to Christian radio, you’ve heard Francesca Battistelli.
So don’t wait another minute. Head over to her website or her MySpace page to check out some music and learn more about this hot new artist.
The label is so sure that you’ll love her album, which is priced at an easy to swallow $9.99 (and her website boasts an $8.99 price tag at Target), that if you don’t like it you can return it. That’s a deal you can’t pass up.