Nina Diaz, Sarah Jaffe

NPR once gave SA songstress Nina Diaz some impressive cred as “one of the two or three most exciting, scary-good vocalists in rock today.” The praise rings true if you cross-reference with the video of Diaz singing “Rebirth,” one of the few tunes she has recorded in hi-fi since her hiatus from Girl in a Coma. As the band drops into orchestrated hits, Diaz sings of a former lover, her eyes wild with a frightening intensity and her voice scaling octaves with ease. Gaining momentum with a few well-received gigs toward the end of last year (including the inauguration of the Tobin Center’s River Walk Plaza), we’re looking forward to what the new year holds for SA’s comatic star. Denton’s Sarah Jaffe plays with rich textures in her orchestral indie rock arrangements, though her strong songwriting is just as arresting in acoustic form.