THIS IS THE SOUND OF STARTING OVER

Amanda Shires' 'Nobody's Girl' is an intimate look into heartbreak and healing

- BY TODD MARTENS

Two years after a crushing breakup, singer-songwriter Amanda Shires is sitting in an empty hotel bar, her arms shaking as she reads a page from her notebook.

She's been stumbling, she says, in interviews, struggling to explain how she transformed one of the deepest pains of her life into art.

The work in question, "Nobody's Girl," fits into a tradition of great heartache albums. And yet it deviates from it. Brazenly honest, pointedly detailed and possessing the sort of vulnerability that feels like an outstretched hand to the listener, Shires' exploration of grief is part examination of the difficulty of moving on and part work of self-help. "Nobody's Girl" is the album as personal quest — for healing, for understanding and for being heard.