On reading my review of Angus & Julia Stone’s latest disc Down the Way a friend asked me whether I could write an article on the phenomenon of young Australian women who sing like little girls.
My immediate response was to come to the defence of the women he mentioned. They’ve created some of my favourite albums in recent years. But the more I thought about it, the more I had to admit that he was on to something.
There are definite similarities between the voices of many of our local female singer-songwriters, Julia Stone, Lisa Mitchell, Sarah Blasko et al. There’s a certain breathiness about their delivery, an almost squeakiness about their sound. I think it’s more flattering to compare them to classic artists like Melanie Safka than little girls, but the fact remains that we have a lot of women who seem to sound the same.
I wonder, do record companies see they’re onto a good thing and decide to strike while the iron’s hot, signing up as many sound-alikes as they can? Does it come from local artists influencing others in their niche? Or is it all simply a coincidence?
Image source: Dazza17 @ Flickr