POP MUSIC REVIEW : McKee’s Soulful Artistry

Maria McKee may have been in some kind of artistic seclusion these last few years, but her instrument--that gutsy, inerrant voice--hasn’t exactly been atrophying in the time off. Kicking off a short tour of the Southland Thursday at the Belly Up here, McKee turned in a typically warming vocal performance of such casual magnificence that it was nigh impossible not to once again predict for her the stardom that’s long been prophesied for her.

McKee’s new album, “You Gotta Sin to Get Saved,” due in a month, comes close to recapturing the invigorating spirit--if not necessarily the cowpunk sound--of her finest days on the L.A. club scene. Performing with most of the same players who figure on the album, McKee effortlessly re-created the new collection’s seamless mixture of ‘70s-ish, Hi!-style R&B; and rock, with country laments and gospel-folk spirituals thrown in for good, totally congruous measure.

There were signs that this was the full band’s first gig, with an abundance of nervous, if amusing, chatter between songs. But its seeming like a dress rehearsal made the unfaltering focus of McKee’s soulful vocal instincts seem all the more remarkable; her pitch-perfection in the midst of spontaneity is almost an argument for channeling. And though she definitely still wails on occasion, she’s learned a lot about restraint, letting this gig start out at a mid-simmer and end up at full boil.

McKee and band also play tonight and Sunday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and on Monday at the Troubadour.