Jennette McCurdy began her acting career while only eight years old, and she's appeared in everything from the 2003 film Hollywood Homicide (alongside Harrison Ford) to the teen sitcom iCarly. But that doesn’t mean her 2012 debut album sounds like the product of a precocious Mouseketeer. McCurdy sings county pop as if she grew up in Nashville listening to Shania Twain and Reba McEntire. “Generation Love” opens with an endearing narrative about the differences between McCurdy’s and her mother’s generations. With melodic banjo and watery pedal steel notes, her delicate restraint and self-sung harmonies set a lovely tone here. While “Heart of a Child” pulls on the same old sentimental heartstrings synonymous with greeting cards, McCurdy sounds like she’s finding her own style in the genre-crossing anthem “Stronger” and the rootsy bounce of “Put Your Arms Around Someone.” She closes strongly with “Have to Say Goodbye,” where the classic tones of '70s AM gold (dig that old grinding Hammond organ) blend with smoother R&B accompaniment while McCurdy sings soulfully.