Sandi Thom - Smile ... It Confuses People (Viking Legacy) By Steve Rudd Release Date: June 5th 2006

If you think that KT Tunstall is an outstanding talent, it's high-time you became better acquainted with Sandi Thom. Whilst KT is a truly incredible singer-songwriter, the Tooting-based Sandi somehow seems to be an even more extraordinary songwriter in a league of her own, armed with a cauldron of top melodies and a voice literally to die for. This debut album might be being released on an independent label, and there might not be multi-million pound advertising campaigns on TV and/ or in magazines (yet) to promote the beauty, but the buzz around Sandi is fast-spreading like blazing wildfire, thanks in part to a series of gigs that she has recently performed from her very own humble basement of all places.

Weird, you might think... but the beauty part is that she's broadcast such mini-gigs via her webcam onto the internet, and as a result has been seen by over 300,000 people. Now that's what I call keeping the DIY spirit alive and kicking - and what an effect such transmissions have had. To an extent, like The Arctic Monkeys were on My Space before they broke through into the big-time, Sandi Thom is the talk of internet-land, and it just proves once again that the best publicity of all is good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. If a singer or band has genuine talent, word soon gets around. Sandi's debut album is a pleasure from start to finish, opened up by the crazily catchy When Horsepower Meant What It Said tune that's propelled by a crisp acoustic melody, kitsch backing harmonies and a chirpy chorus. Both Country music and Pure Pop elements are blissfully married together, as though Shania Twain has been listening to KT Tunstall's album on repeat-play before hitting the recording studio.

Former single release I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker is spine-chillingly original and an awesome showcase for her sensational voice and fascinating lyrics. Time and again throughout this album Sandi proves that there is no more devastatingly effective instrument than the human voice itself. Some of the songs are Pure Pop, such as Lonely Girl, which is the type of tune that could put a fair few Britney-styled Pop Princesses out of work given the emotion-driven integrity at its heart.

Little Remedy is another flawless melodic Pop number with a striking edge, before the heart-wrenching Castles gives way to the uber-cool Human Jukebox which hears Sandi sounding a little like Sheryl Crow in her sassier early days. Smile... It Confuses People is ultimately a masterpiece in which there is a fine balance between all-out, deftly upbeat Pop-Rock tunes and slower, more subtle numbers that have something of a Folk-fangled twist in their tale. The upshot is that Sandi Thom is undeniably a huge star in the making, and I reckon that a year down the line - when it comes to the Brit Awards 2007 - Sandi might just be the first in line to pick up a number of coveted awards for her stunning services to music. So watch this space. www.sandithom.com E-mail louise@quitegreat.co.uk for more info.

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