I can’t help but be tickled every time a folksy female singer songwriter covers a gangster rap. The last good one I remember was by Kendra Morris who covered the Kanye West track Can’t Tell Me Nothing. Normally I keep these indulgences to myself but in the case of Anya Marina, her original work on the new album Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II is well worth the mention.

Marina’s soft whispering way of singing is mistakenly reminiscent of some the styles Emily Haines has perfected with Metric and her solo project. Apparently, there is an empirical medical reason for the style of singing, according to her bio,

her doctor once told her she had the larynx of a “very young adolescent.” When asked what that meant for her singing career, he replied, “Well, it’s not like you’re ever going to be singing at the Met.”

Who knew having any body part of a very young adolescent could be a good thing? Of course having one of your songs featured on Grey’s Anatomy also helps. The song in question “Move You” is one of the more up tempo songs on the album and sounds a lot more like the cutesy conversational singing style of Lykke Li.

Anya Marina – Vertigo

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Anya Marina – Whatever You Like [T.I. Cover]

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