My World

1	My World 3:20
2	I Always Liked That Best 3:03
3	What I Really Meant To Say 3:20
4	Things I Would Do 2:54
5	If You Could Only See 3:13
6	I'm Gone 3:50
7	If You Were Mine 3:29
8	Hope You're Doing Fine 3:21
9	There Goes the Boy 2:34
10	But I Want To 2:52
11	I'll Be Seeing You 3:43

Barnes & Noble

On her hit single "What I Mean to Say," sweet-voiced Cyndi Thomson delivers up a taut, folk-rock-flavored lament for a love that got away. There's a yearning in Thomson's delivery that underscores her regret over words left unspoken. Thomson's debut album, however, is clearly not about to squander a golden opportunity. On the 11 songs here -- she wrote eight with her mentor, Tommy Lee James -- state-of-the-art mainstream arrangements abound: There's insistent drumming, searing guitars, discrete dollops of strings, and judicious quotes from various percussion and stringed instruments. But in front of all that is Thomson's engaging and credible mix of sass and vulnerability. "If You Could Only See" finds her boosting her man's low self-esteem in quintessential country-pop terms, with soaring choruses sandwiched between rapturous, sensitive verses. The album-closing "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Hope You're Doing Fine" are suffused with melancholy over departed lovers, even as each song's slow-boiling country-pop arrangement and terse vocal performance suggest strength surfacing in the wake of heartbreak. My World arrives radio-ready, but not without a bit of meat on the bone. David McGee

All Music Guide

At 24, Cyndi Thomson's deepest country music influence is current diva Trisha Yearwood, who herself was only a third-generation pop-country singer who transcended the genre's limitations with a rich voice and killer songs. But Thomson's youth shouldn't be held against her. For in the field of curtain-shirted rock & roll wannabes and Brooks & Dunn clones and Shania Twain-esque glamor queens who couldn't sing a lick if there weren't pitch levelers in recording studios, Thomson is a rarity. As a singer she posses a genuine slippery, smoky alto that reaches deep inside the heart for the lyric rather than in the trembling upper registers of her instrument. She has the songs too, given that her producer and co-writer is none other than Tommy James. Lastly, she's a country singer first and a pop singer second. My World will, hopefully, lay claim to a slot on the country chart near the top, which would mean there was hope for Nash Vegas (not a lot, but a smidge anyway -- which is more than there is now). Sure, there are the requisite fiddles on her record, but there are also banjos and flat-picked guitars, as well as recorders, Hammond B-3s (as on the single "What I Really Meant to Say"). The single is clearly meant to put the album in the hands and minds (not like they really have them, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this set) of country music radio station programmers. Once said single charts, the label digs into the disc for further material, hopefully to the title track or "Hope You're Doing Fine," with its ringing mandolin and pedal steel whine. Ultimately, My World has some concessions to the pop market: it's slickly produced; there are some taut, pop sheeny arrangements and a few drum machines here and there. But compared to the absolute crap being cranked out of Nash Vegas, this is a bona fide country record in the same tradition as Thomson's mentor Yearwood. And there are a lot lower sights (especially now) to set your eyes on. Thom Jurek

Entertainment Weekly

Nashville pop never sounded so cool. Alanna Nash