Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
[Atlantic Records]
Published Wednesday, 7th May, 2008 at 5:40 PM
Release date: 5th May 2008
Written by Mark Nelson
Download: iTunes (UK), 7digital (UK), Amazon (US)
Billed as a name to watch this year, Santogold has made a heavy splash since 2007 - first from singing on Mark Ronson's 'Pretty Green', then a quietly released (but storm-creating) 12" featuring this very re-issued track 'L.E.S. Artistes' and more recently - her music can even be heard on the current VO5 Extreme Style TV adverts and she co-wrote Outta My Head by Miss Ashlee Simpson. Not bad going for a one-single-to-date artist.
On her first widespread single, Brooklyn's Santi White sings in a unique vocal that has a certain agitated insecurity about it - an idea developed further by the paranoid lyrics; "Build me up, bring me down" and "Change, change, change, I want to get up out of my skin." The music, well that's a contrast to the wordplay - striking, self-assured - Santogold whips up a blend of electronics and stimulating new-wave, that despite the retro influences, does sound convincingly modern and exciting. Suddenly the hype is starting to make sense.
