Every now and then, a new artist comes along and reinvests your faith in music’s ability to lift the human spirit. Sure it sounds corny, but it’s true. Any musician can argue that this gift is just a matter of manipulating the proper mixture of chord progression, key, instrumentation, production and delivery. But every music fan knows that there’s a hell of a lot more to it than that; that the ability a performer has to send chills down your back with a single refrain hints at more than just the alchemy of production. A true music fan knows that there’s something in certain performers that enables them to create the most evasive and heralded of outcomes: true inspiration.

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you . . . Brandi Carlile. This singer/songwriter, coming out of the woodlands of rural Washington state, released her debut full-length album on Columbia Records last year. The self-titled disc contains 10 songs of unfalteringly beautiful music, a mix of old country instincts, coffee house aesthetics and alternative integrity. The songs are full of breezy arrangements and earnest, emotionally charged lyrics. She brings this mix of sublimely plain-clothed roots rock to the Stone Church in Newmarket on Saturday, Feb. 11. (Unfortunately for all of you latecomers, the show is already sold out.)

Despite being a clearly talented guitar player and gifted songwriter, the 23-year-old Carlile also possesses one of the most rapturously evocative voices in recent memory. Rising from a soft coo to a powerful, cathartic falsetto, her voice is clearly her best instrument. Growing up in woodsy, isolated Ravensdale, Wash., gave Carlile plenty of time to teach herself how to sing.

“I locked myself in my room when no one was home to see how loud and high I could sing, and how long I could hold a note,” she says in her Web site bio (www.brandicarlile.com). “I knew that’s what it would take to develop a big, powerful voice.” It clearly worked. Her strong, vibrant vocals often bring about comparisons to her own idol, Patsy Cline. “Patsy Cline had a really gutsy, powerful voice. I identify with that. I’ve gone through all sorts of vocal phases, from pop to blues to R&B, but no matter what I do, I just can’t get the country & western out of my voice.”

Carlile also has the rare distinction of being a musician who has never tormented herself with a day job (though she did cut her musical teeth working as a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator). “I’ve insisted that I do nothing but play music and not let my head go anywhere else. If that means playing in a smoky bar for three hours, five nights a week, that’s fine. It’s discipline. It teaches you how to grab your audience, no matter who they are.” This determination helped her through years of playing any gig she could find in the Seattle music scene. Backing her through her every effort were twin brothers and Seattle natives Phil and Tim Hanseroth on bass and drums.

While it would be easy to lump her into the endless sea of Lilith Fair second stagers and Ani DiFranco wannabe’s, Brandi Carlile’s music sets her apart. Her moodier songs are reminiscent of a rootsy Sarah McLachlan (minus the overwrought etherealness), while the more straightforward pop/rock songs are almost anthemic in quality. Rooted in the simple framework of a pop tune, a song like “Follow,” the lead track on her CD, uses a combination of inspirational lyrics and a pleasantly melancholy melody to set its emotional atmosphere. Even more character is brought out of the song with varying dynamic buildups, brought about by layers of strings, simple backup vocals, and, ultimately, Carlile’s own powerhouse vocals.

Carlile’s entire album is self-assured and musically mature. Recorded in her Maple Valley, Washington, log cabin, “Brandi Carlile” lacks nothing in production or sonic quality, having a generally organic texture and circular warmth to it, as if the whole album wants to be wrapped up in a blanket on the couch and watch the fireplace crackle. The dirge-like cadence of “What Can I Say” helps to mellow the themes of regret and loss found in the lyrics, while “Throw It All Away” features cleverly exaggerated metaphors to mirror the profoundness of romantic love. “Fall Apart Again” appears to be the standout single; an instantly catchy melody creeps along in the verse, conjuring the devastated refrains of an artist like Jeff Buckley or Thom Yorke of Radiohead, while the chorus shifts into an upbeat call of self-exploration as self-preservation. “Gone” is a beautifully simple meditation on mortality, while the album closer, “Tragedy,” which also appeared on a 2004 five song acoustic EP, is a sorrowful ballad mourning the loss of a cherished relationship. “Taking you with me would be like/ Taking all your money to the grave,” she laments with a haunted melody, lending the song a mood of conquered finality and making it the perfect song to end the album with.

Rolling Stone listed Brandi Carlile as one of 10 “Artists to Watch” last year, and that’s no fluke. She appears to be doing all of the right things to earn that distinction. She is constantly on tour, bouncing between coasts, and receiving increased airplay in important markets; one friend recently back from Austin, Texas, said you “couldn’t escape” her songs on the radio there. More than anything, her music is clearly written with a passionate soul and focused intensity and is consistent to the point where no doubt is left about her ability to pen a meaningful, expressive song. Brandi Carlile is a genuine talent, a big booming voice in a field of temperamental white noise.