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With two hit singles already under her belt, the swinging 'Alright With Me' and perfectly-formed 'We Kissed', Carly's first album, 'Passenger' tells us what we already suspected.
In a country with a happy knack of turning out quality pop music, this young woman is the latest star to step up to the mark.
Assured and passionate - just like its creator - this is an album that sees Carly join the ranks of New Zealand's musical elite.
Schooled in opera singing but with a personality that suggested a career in that straitlaced world wasn't for her, Carly first emerged in New Zealand's hugely successful televised answer to the late 90s girl group pop phenomonen, True Bliss.
Their meteoric rise to fame and chart success burnt True Bliss out quickly but provided a taste and inspiration for Carly to begin her own songwriting career beyond the group.
2002 saw the release of her debut 'Alright With Me', a top 10 hit. Carly also proved her live chops and adaptability playing support acts as diverse as Ronan Keating on his New Zealand tour and Paul Kelly in front of a Melbourne crowd.
2003 has already seen her back in the arenas winning over a Bryan Adams crowd and back in the higher reaches of the charts with second single, 'We Kissed'.
'Passenger' was produced with Stellar's Andrew Maclaren and Chris van de Geer, with a number of tracks mixed in Los Angeles by Chris Lord-Alge.
Carly describes her upcoming album as a driving album. As a non-driver herself, 'Passenger' then became an obvious title for the eleven song album.
"It's the type of album I'd put on in the car for a road trip," she says. "It's big pop songs, they never apologise for themselves, and 'Passenger' is not overcrowded in its production."
What else went in to fuel the process?
"I just wanted to make an album that was everything I love about music now. My ultimate aim was to keep it simple but really bombard you with melody."
"Love is the subject but only because it occupies our minds so much. I wanted honest emotion on this record. You can always tell when someone's trying to be clever."
What else gets into the CD changer on a road trip then, Carly?
"I love music with big voices that bleed emotion so Bono's right up there for any drive. Plus Travis's first album, Josh Rouse and Pete Yorn." "I like to somehow feel changed by a song, by a vocal"
Is the preferred vehicle some bad-ass 70s V8 or shag-wagon?
"When were the seventies again ?" she laughs. " No, I know, after all my dad did name me after Carly Simon..."
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