The Mush-mouthed Approach

Amy's Circus
"I bought Winehouse’s first album, “Frank,” in 2004 at a Heathrow Airport music kiosk. I listened to it on the plane home and dropped it in a garbage can on the way to baggage claim. “Frank” was Winehouse being showy before her voice could raise the curtain: she sounds thin, misses notes, and lacks any specific character. As sixties soul grounds “Back to Black,” “Frank” was tied to a denatured version of jazz vocals, sung by someone channelling Lauryn Hill and resorting to wobbly flourishes when stuck for an idea. (The lyrics employed curse words to show that Winehouse wasn’t, like, square, a charge that she will never have to worry about again.) The singing style heard on “Frank” started years ago—Lauryn Hill, the dopey singer-songwriter Jewel, and Joni Mitchell are all glossed in this approach—and has filtered down through singers like Nelly Furtado, Winehouse, and a currently rising star, Sia. (“Frank” sounds a bit like a drunken Furtado working a piano bar without the benefit of a decent songbook.) This style provides a way of singing derivations of black music without resembling modern R. & B. In fact, avoiding the sound of current R. & B. may be its guiding principle. White singers generally seem to use it more than black singers, though it is open to anyone who wants to use its limited vocabulary."

NewYorker: Amy's Circus by Sasha Frere-Jones, March 3, 2008

Art: Piccadilly Circus, 2007, Gemma Cumming