Soul newcomer Diane Birch had earlier hinted to Pop & Hiss that her next album would be "funky and dark," and apparently she wasn't kidding. Though the Brooklyn-based artist, who honed her skills working hotel bars around Los Angeles, hasn't unleashed a new original yet, her choice of covers on a seven-track EP, to be released next week (Dec. 7) by S-Curve Records, should offer a hint. 

The piano-playing young artist with an old soul tackles the likes of Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnyman and the Cure, among others, giving goth favorites a church-inspired workout. Dubbed "The Velveteen Age," the EP opens with a take on Sisters of Mercy's orchestral-synth staple "This Corrosion," remaking it as a gospel call-and-response. 

When teen star Nick Jonas first announced that he'd be touring with former members of Prince's New Power Generation, there was one quick way to know that his side project was more than just child's play. One need look no further than his choice of an opening act in Diane Birch. The young Brooklyn singer with an old soul had been gradually winning a following on the club circuit, playing to a far more adult crowd than the one typically screaming out their voices at the Jonas Brothers.

"I definitely had to raise my game, I've realized," Birch said."It's really important that you have this kind of energy, because playing to all these fans who don't really know my music as well, you have to keep their attention level. ... You don't want someone to be yawning." 

Pop & Hiss spoke to Birch when she performed at Spaceland in September, and she stopped by The Times' offices on Wednesday to perform a few songs, including her latest single "Valentino," above. Her debut, "Bible Belt," pays homage to the sounds of the South -- "Photograph," for example, sways from a comfortably floral orchestration to a full-on gospel coda, and famed gospel-soul singer Betty Wright was an executive producer.

Working with Wright is one of the many topics Birch touches on in the interview below. Based in Brooklyn, the mid-20s artist was raised with a conservative religious background -- her father is a well-traveled preacher -- and much of "Bible Belt" deals with rebelling from that sort of background. "Don't Wait Up," for instance, is a bluesy romp that reminisces about Birch's days as a teenaged goth, albeit with graceful backing vocals fit for a church choir.

M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" wasn't the obvious choice to be nominated for a major Grammy Award. The song, after all, uses a string of gun shots as one of its hooks. At a major award gala, one in which the Dixie Chicks were considered a surprisingly political nomination choice, it would be safe to assume that the revolutionary anthem "Paper Planes" would be sitting the kudos event out. 

Yet old man Grammy had a few surprises in store for its 2009 telecast, nominating M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" for record of the year, and embracing obscenity-per-second rapper Lil Wayne in its album of the year field. Ultimately, the more conservative choices won, but a step on the continued road to relevancy had been taken.

Can the Grammys maintain a bit of adventure when nominees are announced this Wednesday evening? Pop & Hiss has already handicapped the major album and new artist categories, and today turns the attention to the record of the year field. In a year that featured new singles from Green Day and U2, is there room for any new blood in Club Grammy? Read on.

Soul music has become a burgeoning youth movement of sorts. The best new artist trophy at the Grammy Awards the last two years has gone to Adele and Amy Winehouse, two-younger-than-30 artists steeped in vintage sounds. 

Like the aforementioned artists, Diane Birch is drawing from the decades before she was born. Titled "Bible Belt," Birch's debut pays homage to the sounds of the South -- "Photograph," for example, sways from a comfortably floral orchestration to a full-on gospel coda, and famed gospel-soul singer Betty Wright was an executive producer. 

But Birch's brand of piano-driven soul is more cosmopolitan than it is gritty, elegantly at ease with its stylistic diversions and retro debts. A bluesy frolic like "Don't Wait Up for Me" stands comfortably next to the breezy hand-clap merriment of "Valentino." 

Owning a soft voice with a pointed center when needed, Birch also possesses classically trained piano skills that have made her adept at weaving pop melodies. "Rewind" begins with a drizzle of piano notes, creating a mournfully reflective base for the crisp horns, redemptive guitars and Birch's post breakup lyrics, touching on the limits of technology and the narrator's arrogance. On a recent cross-country flight, I listened to this song for three hours straight, held captive by spacious piano hooks. 

Based in Brooklyn, the mid-20s artist was born into a conservative religious family. Her father a well-traveled preacher, Birch spent a significant portion of her childhood in Africa, but her show tonight at Spaceland is a homecoming of sorts. Among the myriad cities she's lived in, Birch once called L.A. home, working the lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

On Monday afternoon, Birch spoke to Pop & Hiss from San Diego. 

You did some time in Los Angeles on the hotel bar circuit a couple years ago. What stands out when you reflect back on that period?

At the time I was very bitter. I felt very misunderstood. I felt very used and abused. 

Now I look back, and I kind of miss that. I kind of miss playing in a hotel, where people are eating food and I'm playing songs for hour after hour. At the time, I couldn’t wait to clock in and out, but it was really special for me to sit there -- watching people and observing what I did that would make someone react. When I was off, people were off. When I picked it up, I could affect all these people around me.

That gave me the confidence to realize that I have power over people, if I can tap into it. I think that’s one of the most important things I learned.

There’s a full novel somewhere in your bio, having lived around the world and having a strict religious upbringing. At what point did music enter the picture?

I started playing classical piano when I was 7. Ever since I can remember, there was classical music playing in the house pretty much 24 hours per day, seven days per week. On Saturdays, we would go to church -- every week. There was a huge emphasis on music in church. I didn’t really play music in church a whole lot. I kind of rebelled. The music was mine, and I didn’t want to share it with people.

But I do think I am really influenced by church hymns and choirs, just the sort of grandeur of a lot that kind of music. It’s always been a part of my life. I was serenaded in the womb by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.