Smile... It Confuses People

Sandi Thom’s Inspiring Debut

Alexandria Thom was born in August of 1981 in Banff, Scotland. She spent three of her school years singing and playing keyboards in a band The Residents, and then sang in a gospel choir Love and Joy and in an unnamed band. One day Sandi composed a cappella single I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) and it got to the top of international singles’ charts within a week. In the spring of 2006 using a usual web cam she made a 21 nightlong Internet performances together with her band-mates, drummer Craig Connet and guitarist Marcus Bonfanti. By the end of this series of home concerts the audience was reportedly around 70, 000 people all over the world including the USA and Russia. This was followed by a contract with RCA and a consequent release of the album Smile... It Confuses People. Taking into account such a pre-history this inspiring debut made much ado about itself. Actually there is no wonder about it: the girl who wrote songs at home became famous practically overnight. However only having listened to the album one can figure out what this all is about and come to one’s own conclusion.

Smile… It Confuses People – a chance of time traveling

The combination of Sandi Thom’s powerful vocals with a really remarkable gift to compose music and to write smart texts is the first thing one can notice while listening to Smile... It Confuses People. The second is her original style having the traits of folk, rock, country, pop and reminding of those almost forgotten hippy times. The album opener When Horsepower Meant What It Said immediately plunges you into her dashing acoustic guitar’s stringing, and her cushioned voice makes you follow her thoughts throughout the whole album. Classical ballads Lonely Girl and Superman reveal Sandi Thom’s inner world and tell us she is not devoid of the natural human desire to be loved. The most outstanding tracks of the record are What If I Am Right and of course the sensational single I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker, which literally takes you back to the 1970s. As a matter of fact the whole album provides a unique chance of time traveling. The joyful Little Remedy can cheer anyone up and the lyrical closer Time is a sign of Sandi Thom’s deep understanding of life. The songs are not long but in each of them Sandi manages to express a complete and understandable thought.

Sandi Thom neglects all the musical innovations

The album of the new Scottish young star has appeared right in time. It is Sandi Thom’s peculiar style that makes Smile... It Confuses People so different from all we are so used to in the present days. New technologies dictate their rules in the music industry, but Thom does not seem to care a bit. She neglects all the innovations with which the musicians create new unusual sounds and other effects and places the stake on her own powerful vocals and bare instruments such as a guitar, a piano and a tambourine. As for the topic of her songs it concerns not only the 1970s as such. She sings of love, shares her ideas about the fragility of life and touches upon various trifles. In the UK Sandi Thom is already considered the new singing talent and the record company has signed her for a 5 album contract. She has a lot of fans all over the world due to her web show and now those who haven’t seen it are eager to listen to the album. It seems quite evident that people have long been missing a simple and a heartwarming music and Smile... It Confuses People is just like that. Hopefully Sandi has much in store since her talent is now awarded. For now let us give her a warm welcome for she really deserves it.