Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie has launched her musical career in the US to a warm reception from critics.

Her debut single, Lights Out, was officially released to radio stations across the US on Monday, ahead of its planned release on 8 April.

The 35-year-old's track, taken from forthcoming debut album To Whom It May Concern, contains references to her father, who died when she was nine.

Lisa Marie is a solid singer with plenty of character in her husky voice, a cross between Sheryl Crow and Cher Bill Ellis critic

The lyrics include the words: "Someone's turned the lights out there in Memphis/ That's where my family's buried and gone."

They continue: "Last time I was there I noticed a space left/ Next to them there in Memphis in the damn back lawn."

Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM's programme director John Ivey said: "We wouldn't play it unless it was a good record, but this has the stamp of a serious artist all over it."

'Gutsy'

In the Los Angeles Times, music writer Robert Hilburn calls it "a powerful, hauntingly personal work", adding that Presley's "gutsy, blues-edged voice has a distinctive flair".

In Presley's home town of Memphis, Tennessee, a radio station has been playing a leaked copy of the track.

Local critic Bill Ellis said: "Lisa Marie is a solid singer with plenty of character in her husky voice, a cross between Sheryl Crow and Cher."

Elvis in 1960: The music legend died in 1977

Presley wrote most of the album, although she was helped by Glen Ballard, who produced Alanis Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill.

Promoting the track, she said: "I never wanted to write a song, ever, about anything indicating my genetic code whatsoever, or my background.

"But if I had to do it, the Lights Out would be the song. It's kind of a darker, odd take on it, not like 'Woo! I'm from Memphis, and look at my life and it's so wonderful."

Presley was the music legend's only child, and was brought up by his widow Priscilla.

Other collaborators include songwriter and musician Danny Keough, Presley's first husband, and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who co-wrote and plays on a track called Savior.

Presley's third marriage, to actor Nicolas Cage, hit the rocks in November after just 107 days. She married Michael Jackson in 1994, but that union ended after 20 months.