My favorite female singers

So here it is : seeing this flow of people sharing their musical tastes and favorites on the blog, I figured I should do the same. Especially since Mr Leah made this very enticing offer to me : a poster of what is apparently one of my favorite female singers. So I'm hoping to mention her in my list, and not to disappoint ! So here it is :

Lana Del Rey has been my big entry into the world of pop music in 2013, the moment where I started listening to something else than my parents' Cds and the deezer top 20 hits (long time ago!).

I was immediatly struck by her voice, and by the quality of what I was hearing : it felt extremely powerful and meaningful, and as stupid as it may sound, I felt special listening to her, it was my way to stand out of the crowd, then. Born To Die was the album that helped me survive my middle school years, and in 2014 Ultraviolence was playing on endless repeat. Lately I've been aware of what she objectively represents and I took a bit of distance with the persona, but never with the music. Lana Del Rey is meant to be too much, insular, trapped in a cinematic sound she reproduces on and on, she lives in a world of old references. While she is close to what I consider as perfection musically speaking, she is not the model artist.

Lykke Li is the perfect heartbreak singer, that woman just has the ability to endlessly create beautiful songs, mystic, mysterious and emotionally powerful at the same time. You probably only know the horrible remix of her song I Follow Rivers which honestly doesn't give her much creative credit...

Björk and Beyoncé would traditionnaly go right after, but since Mr Leah said the singer didn't have a b-name, I'll pass it on, especially since some people took care of the Beyoncé praise here.

Sade, sometimes considered as a band, rotates around her iconic singer that I love with all my heart : a voice that doesn't age after 30 years of carreer, songs that carry all the beauty (and sometimes the sadness) of the world, made me a true fan. For those who don't know her, listen to the album Love Deluxe, it should blow you away in the first seconds.

PJ Harvey (as a rock&roll fan AND a british man, Mr Leah will appreciate) : this legend of rock&roll music also has a special place in my heart. The way she explores pain, rage, and love in her music is so powerful and impressing. She basically stands alone with her guitar on stage and is as loud as an army. I also love the way she radically shifts in her sound with every album she makes.

M.I.A. is an amazing (and truely underrated) artist that has an incredible talent for crafting sounds and creating something unconventional, something you likely never heard in your life ! It is also very ideal to dance, as her hard, wicked rythms hit you like a powerful wave.

Kate Bush is also coming back in power as winter comes : her extravagant voice and enchanting music always go straight to my heart. Just humming Running Up That Hill makes me shiver.

She was at the peak of her career during the 80s and she was releasing good music ! She diserves credit just for that.

I'll try to also mention some more obscure and modest singers, as they don't get much advertisement in this world :

Julia Holter is a wonderful artist : her music is the expression of the most perfect harmony you could think of, her songs are simply heavenly. If you like classical music and chamber pop, then you should definitely check her out !

If you feel like discovering something a little bit more challenging, something you would never hear anywhere on the radio today, these two are made for warriors :

FKA Twigs : an experimental singer, very famous among contemporary dancers, and it is not by chance !

Grimes is an extremely weird and haunting mix of electronic ambient music, k-pop and medieval music with a mickey mouse voice (she also happens to be the be the coolest person in the planet).

There are definitely a lot more worth mentioning but I guess I should stick to a limited list ! Really check these out if you can...

Bye Charlie,

Ange.