With 2011 having hit its halfway point, the Los Angeles Times has taken the occasion to look at the best records released thus far, and Jessica Lea Mayfield's Nonesuch debut album, Tell Me, is first on the list.

"The British-born Adele may be getting all the attention for her merging of soul, rock, r&b and country," writes Los Angeles Times pop music editor Randall Roberts, "but another young singer, Jessica Lea Mayfield, has released an equally assured Muscle Shoals-inspired soul album."

Roberts credits The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, who produced Tell Me, with giving the album "a wood-paneled warmth that suggests Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis with a little bit of Nashville twang mixed in," and concludes: "Mayfield’s ability to capture private vignettes and draw them with unguarded honesty makes Tell Me essential listening. It’s rough and honest, strong but also delicate and vulnerable."

Read the complete list at latimes.com.

To pick up a copy of Tell Me, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout.

Jessica Lea Mayfield, fresh off her stand-out performance at the Bonnaroo festival, is set to launch an extensive US summer tour next week in Chicago and has just added several new dates that will take the tour through the end of September, including several shows out West with the Avett Brothers,  a performance with Punch Brothers, sets at Bumbershoot and the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and a late-September concert supporting John Prine. See below for all of the currently scheduled tour dates and visit nonesuch.com/on-tour for further details and ticket links.

JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD ON TOUR

* Ferraby Lionheart supports
** w/ The Avett Brothers
† w/ Punch Brothers
‡ w/ John Prine