This was my back-to-back discovery with last week's
5:55 by Charlotte Gainsbourg. Musically the two ladies could not be any more different, but it's funny that I was listening to two female musicians with a very strong and independent spirit, in the same week. Not planned.
Sam Phillips has been around for a while, making music since the early 1980s. She was known as Leslie Phillips and her style was marketed as "the Christian Cyndi Lauper," a reputation created by her label masters; it is said she was always uncomfortable with her association with non-secular content. In the 90s, she broke rank with her Christian artist image, and adopted the pseudonym Sam Phillips. She was also married to T-Bone Burnett, the famous musician and producer, but her new album
Don't Do Anything is self-produced. They are divorced, but remain good friends, whatever the hell that means.
I am very enamored by Sam Phillips' voice and her musical sensibility on this album: it's like a cross between Veruca Salt and Aimee Mann, two very distinct sounds. "No Explanations" and "Don't Do Anything" is front-loaded with deep, rough tribal bass and electric guitars -- sinister and rough; this is the Veruca Salt part. Then there are the other tracks that have Sam Phillips' wonderful voice against acoustics, piano and violins -- folksy yet elegant; this is the Aimee Mann part.
Listen to the album long enough and you will love it not only for the curious blend of Sam's musical styles, but her brilliant songwriting. Very impressive.
Favorite tracks: "No Explanations," "Don't Do Anything," "My Career in Chemistry," "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," "Shake Down,"Under the Light"
