On her debut album, Mediocre, young Mexican actress Ximena Sariñana showcases a genuine talent for alternative pop/rock and establishes her credentials as a singer/songwriter as well. The daughter of film director Fernando Sariñana and screenwriter Carolina Rivera, she's no stranger to the bright lights of the media spotlight. As a teenager she acted in a series of telenovelas before graduating quickly to feature films, most notably #Amar Te Duele (2002), the soundtrack to which she contributed a couple songs. The standout contributor to the Amar Te Duele soundtrack, the multi-talented Mexican alternative rock singer/songwriter Natalia Lafourcade, is a good point of comparison. The two young women share similar voices and a willingness to take risks, crafting some of the most boldly eccentric music to emerge from Mexico, a country much better known for is regional traditions than its alternative music scene or its female singer/songwriters. Sariñana has also been compared to fellow piano-playing American alternative singer/songwriters such as Fiona Apple and Regina Spektor, plus Norah Jones, whose jazz-pop leanings are evident in some of the latter songs on Mediocre. While there is merit to all of these comparisons, not to mention the early work of Mexican pop superstar Julieta Venegas, Aquí (1998) in particular, Sariñana is rarely derivative on her debut album. The piano-playing alternative pop/rock female singer/songwriter style is familiar, for sure, leading to easy comparisons such as those aforementioned, yet Sariñana puts her own spin on the style, which may disappoint those expecting little more than a Spanish-language Fiona Apple or Norah Jones.

1		Mediocre
2		Vídas Paralelas
3		Normal
4		La Tina
5		Reforma
6		No Vuelvo Mas
7		Cambio de Piel
8		Sintiendo Rara
9		Un Error
10		Gris
11		Pocas Palabras (Juan)
12		Monitor

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