New Tunes Tuesday #34

First up this week is Keane and their new album Perfect Symmetry. Keane has a big of an 80's electronica sound for the first handful of tracks, but the album levels off into much slower and more soothing sounds. This is the third album from the UK natives.

On their website, their biography sites that they are "leap(ing) into uncharted territory." It seems that Keane's step outside their comfort zone will be very fruitful and that Keane's die-hard fans will appreciate the new album.

Ingrid Michaelson's new album, Be Ok, is lighthearted and happy. That hits home even more so when you take a look a her influences on her MySpace page. She says that "toothpaste. minty and fresh" is her influence. Her sound is definitely fresh and the title track, "Be Ok" would make anyone feel okay--even if they are down in the dumps. Ingrid sounds a little bit like Sara Bareilles, but she most certainly has her own sound.

Everything is Borrowed, except their sound. That's the new album from The Streets, or rather, one man, Mike Skinner. The Streets' sound is somewhere between rap and the spoken word. It reminds me a lot of a Slam Poetry session, with a track laid down underneath. The Streets describes the album as "the sound of an inner monologue." And what an interesting inner monologue it is!

Lucinda Williams' describes herself as rock, american and country. She is definitely all of the above. On her new album, Little Honey, her voice sways with the pluck of the guitar and even has a blues sounds on "Tears of Joy." An artists voice is very important to me because it is their pitch that I copy when I sing in the shower. Lucinda's pitch is high and low, very difficult to copy - even so, I'll still try. Copycatting is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery.