Joy Ike begins her bio noting of herself, "She hasn't been writing since she could hold a pen, and her life as a musician is only three years young."

We can add that she's come a long way in a short time.

The 24-year-old singer-pianist, whose Nigerian parents moved here when she was 3, is already releasing her second CD and sounding very much like a neo-soul contender in the vein of Corrine Bailey Rae or Norah Jones.

"Writing was something I desperately tried to do throughout high school and college, but nothing came to me," she says. "Maybe it was just waiting for the right time."

The songs started coming to her around 2005 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in communications and working as a publicist. She did have a musical background to draw upon.

"I grew up playing the piano but quit as soon as I got into high school," she says. "I picked it up before graduating from college and began to re-teach myself through writing songs. For the most part, I've forgotten all the fundamentals and music theory. Most of my playing comes by ear. If I hear it in my head, I try to re-create it on the board. It usually takes a while, but the end product is hopefully something everyone is happy with."

The next step was getting her music out into the coffee shops and clubs, particularly the Shadow Lounge, where she became a regular. In 2006 she released "Before These Words Were Ever Spoken," her first EP, and then in 2007 she placed second under Best Solo Artist in a Pittsburgh City Paper poll. People have compared her to Jones, Bailey Rae, Sarah McLachlan and even Fiona Apple.

"I feel like I assume different characters with every song," Ike says. "Sometimes mellowed-out and serene like Jones, sometimes aggressive like Apple, and definitely that element of soul that I think is consistent throughout all my songs. At the same time, I don't really think I sound like any of them, but it helps, just as much as it hurts, to put yourself in a category so people know what to expect."

With her new release, "Good Morning," Ike feels like she's done a much better job of capturing the "intensity and emotion" of her live performances. Her backing ensemble -- which includes her sister, Peace, on drums -- is a versatile unit that can handle a jazz-funk groove or venture into chamber-pop territory. Of course, the focus is on Ike's tasty piano work, lovely vocal phrasing and soulful songs that deal with universal themes on a personal level.

"Many of my songs have a lot to do with the human condition," she says. "I think humans universally struggle with the same things: figuring out our purpose in life, deciding what we think about God, learning how to relate to each other and struggling through the day-to-day to stay afloat. That is what my songs are about. Since I struggle with these things daily, writing is naturally what I do with them."