Santogold

Currently enjoying the potentially dangerous tag of “Most Hyped 2008”, New York’s Santogold is being mooted as THE face sophisticated pop this year, with an eclectic bevy of influences and a production team including Diplo, Switch and Freq Nasty all promising something very fresh and exciting. And that’s exactly what we get.

Shove It takes an interesting play on dub reggae – taking the lolloping bass riddims and lazy beats of dub and juxtaposing them with Santogold’s vocals in a lively, uplifting ragga-tinged mood and Spank Rock giving us some Dirty South style laidback rap flows.

Say Aha shifts into Tarantino style, ska-tinged skiffle rock, with Santo getting kooky with her largely meaningless – yet infectious - chorus and harmonies, and giving her best Vanessa Paradis impression later on. It’s like the Arctic Monkeys with a funky, soulful edge, and a raucous vocal. Creator, the track that most will known her for thus far, is purely in the M.I.A. mould – melodic verses with shouty, commanding choruses with Freq Nasty & Switch going for heavy tabla-driven beats and mindbending electro trickery, and some brilliantly edited vocal snippets.

My Superman reveals a vampy, Grace Jones-esque side to the multi-faceted Santo, in a saucy electro cabaret kinda way, and even more forgettable tracks like Unstoppable are captivating by way of the innovative production (on this case by Diplo), carrying the album through less vocally-inspiring moments with ease.

I’m A Lady won’t get far with Little Britain fans, but its gently rousing Yeah Yeah Yeahs style indie pop is a pleasant proposition, and shows Santogold in yet another light – as convincingly as in the others.

Her vocals continually surprise and impress – as mellifluous as the most talented RnB singer one minute, and as powerful as a punk firecracker the next. The album is very attractive on first play, with only occasional dips in quality – but you get the feeling it will be a definite grower. A great debut that will appeal to a wide cross-section of people – the hype is pretty much justified on this one.

Check out the amazing official video for lead single L.E.S. Artistes: