Mary Lee Kortes never takes the easy way out. On her last album, the Montana native wrestled with the audacious task of recreating Bob Dylan"s 1975 classic Blood on the Tracks. Kortes recorded the basic tracks for 700 Miles in her Manhattan apartment, which gives the album a pristine, personal feel. Indeed, the lyrics of the title track come from an entry from her grandmother"s travel diary. That song forms the locus of the album as Kortes embarks on a metaphoric journey for Kortes, who describes finding her true voice and path after abandoning an early ambition to become a book editor. But that voice is anything but one-dimensional. The singer effortlessly skips from an earnest and injured on the starkly beautiful "Nothing" to a sultry on "More Stupider," as she debates the worth of playing dumb to attract men. The outcome is obvious, since Kortes" greatest strength is brainy, poetic lyrics that can be as chilling as Emily Dickinson or as inflamed as Pablo Neruda. Kortes has certainly traveled far and has emerged as a true original with a bold, daring spirit. --Jaan Uhelszki