SMILE … IT CONFUSES PEOPLE - SANDI THOM
This Scottish singer/songwriter won instant U.K. fame after webcasting a series of home concerts that drew a stadium-size audience. Her debut album luxuriates in the predigital warmth of vintage folk and soul. Signature track “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)” is a foot-stomping update of Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz,” catchy and original, but not enough to carry an entire album. While ballads like the soul-tinged “Lonely People” or the acoustic “Sunset Borderline” conjure sweet echoes of Carole King and Stevie Wonder, retro-style folk-rockers like “When Horsepower Meant What It Said” feel like KT Tunstall-lite. Thom is blessed with a beautiful, old-soul voice, but one is left wishing she would break out of her sunny adult-pop once in a while to reveal more personality. Billboard
