Santigold – Disparate Youth

Santigold – Disparate Youth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIMMZQJ1H6E)

Santigold returns with her one-woman mission to defy convention, expectation, categorization… Her debut was made with the self-expressed intention to "help break down boundaries and genre classifications" and show that she wasn't just "a black woman singing R&B’. The label I’ve most commonly seen applied is ‘Electonica’ but the most obvious sounds to me are the new-wave and punk-tinged rock elements which are as welcome as they are surprising. ‘You’ll Find A Way’ could almost be a Clash track, especially with the mini foray in to dub towards the end (indeed, she did go on to cover ‘Guns Of Brixton’). It was no surprise to discover she had recorded two albums of new-wave / punk with the band ‘Stiffed’ before going solo. ‘Santogold’ was one of my most enjoyed albums of 2008.

The follow-up ‘Master Of My Make-Believe’ is released next month and several tracks have been cropping up, possibly to remind those who have forgotten just who Santi White is. The first track, ‘Big Mouth’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxdQ_uD5IWk) is not something I think I’d ever have found myself listening to if it wasn’t a Santigold track but definitely grew on me with a couple of listens. Frantic Rio-carnival samaba drums showing yet another aspect of influence. But the next track ‘Disparate Youth’ is more of the Santigold I was hoping to hear. Like Klaxons crossed with The XX, with keyboards sounding like something by St Etienne. Easily fulfilling her brief to cross genres, masterfully creating an electro-indie-dance track equally likely to find its place on a dancefloor as a mainstream radio playlist. Different from anything on the first album but with the instantly recognisable vocal, it’s an exercise in expecting the unexpected but having it make perfect sense the moment you hear it.