Tuesday 16 September 2008

Distinctively enormous (vocals): Shannon Wright


The two things I find particularly interesting about Shannon Wright (artist site, last.fm) are her capacity for vocal yowling (in a good way: she has an extremely powerful voice) and her fusion of classical motifs and rock instrumentation.

In the latter respect, there is something a little Muse-like – though considerably lower on the bombast scale.

As for her voice ... It's enormously distinctive. Distinctively enormous. An incredibly full, forceful alto, with a characteristic waver – almost like a tape warble – to it.


It features a key-shifting, vaguely Chopin-esque arpeggic piano, punchy drumming and aforementioned vocal yowling.

Here's a video of a live show, too – for a taste of her guitary antics. Rock.



4 comments:

Rebecca said...

this song always reminds me of 'Hotel California'

stu said...

Yes! I quite agree, Shannon Wright is a marvel of nature. She is what Cat Power is sadly not these days.

Tom Parnell said...

Haha ... Hotel California.

The expressions she pulls when she's singing: pretty mesmerising. I actually find that video almost too intense to watch. Something about it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Anonymous said...

Yes - Shannon. She may be the hard edge of Catpower, but I guarantee that Chan will never play with the bass player of Slint. Shannon has roots!!

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