Label: Warner
Release Date: 11/08/08
Rating:
With all these soulful lady types such as Wino and Duffy about, you'd be forgiven for placing Santi White - aka Santogold - in the same sort of category. Forgiven, but mistaken; all this particular lady shares in common with these divas-in-the-making is a pair of XY chromosomes and that's pretty much it.
The Philly native has instead chosen a more genre-defying path. In fact, she sounds uncannily like Shingai Shoniwa and her jazzy indie-punk cohorts, Noisettes, crossed with the feisty attitude of M.I.A. and a few echoes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs thrown in there for good measure.
'Lights Out' is a tamer offering than her last two singles though, utilising several 80s influences; the dreamy, ethereal quality of the vocals is akin to Suzanne Vega, and the whole song taken together isn't a million miles away from Blondie's 'Heart Of Glass'. Even the comforting warm bassline, a constant throughout, could have been ripped straight out of the Pixies' back catalogue, all of these different facets converging at the gentle sugar rush of a chorus.
In today's musical climate where skinny white girls owning big, booming soul voices are making a mint, it's admirable that someone’s decided to buck the trend. But for those who like their music hard-hitting and immediate, you may find 'Lights Out' too much of a light touch.
Shefali Srivastava
Santogold Official Site
Santogold Myspace
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