Weekly Release Spotlight: Santogold
Posted on 4/27/2008
Santogold
Santogold
[Downtown]
A lot of talk has been going around calling Santogold (the moniker for Brooklyn-based Santi White) "the new M.I.A." as if any hyped solo female artist with a feisty attitude could become the new stateside sensation that goes from playing modest downtown venues to massive suburban nightclubs in a matter of months. While M.I.A. has indeed become a beloved staple at Radio K, Santogold has her own brand of angsty pop music to bring to the world. Her sound is less concerned with daring electronics or accusatory political statements and more focused on creating tightly knit organic sing-alongs with a good-natured and inviting bent.
It just so happens that her songs are also surprisingly eclectic in influence and execution, expertly showing Santogold's full colors through a slight progression in track sequencing from the album's hook-filled beginning to its more calm and endearing end. It's a surprise because her debut's astonishingly satisfying opening track, "L.E.S. Artistes" sets a tone for an album chockfull of concise and heartfelt pop-rock, and as the tunes keep rolling by, the only adjectives that remain applicable are "concise" and "heartfelt." The album first crawls out if its guitars and morphs into different shades of subtle reggae ("Shove It") and dance party starters ("Creator"), then elegantly slinks back and forth through these sounds, never leaving the mixture she's created unbalanced.
"Tell them that they'll get what they wanted," White sings on another gem from her defiantly positive debut - "You'll Find a Way." She's brazenly confident in not only her vocal delivery but in every carefully constructed beat, guitar hook, and electronic smattering that graces the album. While any other pop music engineer might make this kind of dedication and know-how turn into a clinical listen, Santogold manufactures a warm yet outspokenly raucous affair - one that is not going to be easily forgettable at the end of 2008.
Stream: Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Written by Chris Polley, Radio K volunteer and host of Now Like Photographs.