I am currently listening to this:
Corrine Bailey Rae - Corrine Bailey Rae
http://www.amazon.com/Corinne-Bailey-Rae/dp/B000HBK3MM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1265250926&sr=1-2
Good stuff!
I have her self-titled debut album and The Sea, which was released last week. I like the debut album much better. However, there is a scratchy sound on the beginning of track 4, Till It Happens To You, which I think was added to sound like a "record" on a "record player". I can't remember if that effect is present on other tracks, but the special effects prevent this from being an Outstanding Demo CD, IMO. Beautiful music, nonetheless.
Sia has some good albums. I have them all. Some People Have Real Problems is very good.
If you like female singers and singer/songwriters, check out Rachael Yamagata's Live at the Loft (good demo), Keren Ann's Not Going Anywhere, Priscilla Ahn's A Good Day, Shelby Lynne's Just a Little Lovin' (little mastering and has a little distortion in the recording of the vocals in one track), Mia Doi Todd's GEA, and anything from my favorite, the brilliant Martha Wainwright (her self-titled album is not very well-recorded, IMO, but her earlier EPs are fairly well-recorded).
There are many other contemporary female singers that I like that might have been mentioned in earlier posts, such as Kelly Sweet, Sonya Kitchell, Vienna Teng, Rachael Loshak (Mint is good), Meiko, KT Tunstall, Regina Spektor, Bird York, Erin Bode, Kate Havnevik, Leslie Feist, and Imogen Heap.