By 2001, she was appearing regularly at the SideWalk Cafe in New York's Lower East Side, a venue that has featured such artists as Jeffrey Lewis, Regina Spektor, and Kimya Dawson.

She wrote most of her fourth album, Oh Vanille / ova nil, while staying at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony in Temecula, California, in 2003.

Although known as a solo performer, she has often collaborated with others, including Jeffrey Lewis, CocoRosie, Toby Goodshank, Herman Düne, and, recently, drummer Anders Griffen and cellist Isabel Castellvi on tours in the US, UK, and Europe.

A brilliant idiosyncratic guitarist, a witty and wise lyricist, an imaginative melody writer with a powerful voice; her dark and introspective tunes are utterly captivating, sorta like an earthier Kate Bush.

"[17][18] David Garland of NPR Music described her sound as "an unlikely mix of Aaron Neville, the Baka people, and Joni Mitchell."