Find out what the CL Music Team is jamming to rocket launch the work week. Click here to check out previous entries.
Shae – Gin Wigmore, Gravel and Wine (2011)
If there's such a genre as neo-throwback, this is what I've been exploring lately. My most recent discovery is New Zealand singer-songwriter Gin Wigmore. Gin drips retro and has attitude to spare, as evidenced on Gravel and Wine. Opening the album with the pounding "Black Sheep," she sneers, "Everybody's doing it so why the hell should I?" before proudly calling herself a black sheep. She then swings into the Charleston-with-a-bite "Man Like That." The rest of the album follows suit: swingy and jazzy with a smattering of horns, plucky pianos, hand claps and sassy 'oh-oh-oh' backing vocals. The most striking feature is Gin's voice: it's a beefed up Lana Del Rey, a tightly controlled Amy Winehouse, a more grounded Kasey Chambers. There's even a hint of Adele on the sultry and slow "If Only." Gin distinguishes herself with a punky, rebellious swagger that makes it seem as though she'd be just as comfortable in a back alley as in a smokey, swanky nightclub. Check out the video for "Man Like That" after the jump along with the rest of this week's entries…
This article appears in Feb 14-20, 2013.