Soon the whole world will know how much I like the new Marah record, when my review gets posted to the B-E Music section. While there’s nothing obvious to these ears as to why the band went from decent to stellar, some folks out there in the Wikisphere/blogosphere swear it’s thanks to the presence of one Christine Smith, a new member to the band (at least full-time) on keyboards and vocals.

Marah fans can’t decide whether it’s the chicken or egg: Does she add a dimension that wasn’t there before, or does her new point of view inspire the Bielanko brothers Serge and Dave to take it to the next level that was always there before but they couldn’t reach…a creative catalyst? The fans, however, all seem to agree that she enhances the live shows. A lot.

Whatever. Fact is, Smith is a pretty gifted singer, songwriter and performer. Check out her MySpace, and there’s no doubt her eclectic tastes in jazz, folk, and whatever else merge together to make some fine torchy-sounding songs that are a soothing liniment to ears irritated by too damn much Green Day and Fall Out Boy. The voice. The voice! She’s a star, with her keyboard playing, she sounds like a female Joe Jackson at times, beautiful and dignified, sexy and sultry. Here’s a shot of Smith caught live—on guitar here, but there are other songs from this gig where she’s on piano—performing “Car Alarm Choir Lullaby” at a London club. If you’re not sold by the end, what kind of music fan are you, anyway?