Lene Lovich
She was born in Detroit and moved to England at 13. Now, at 33, Lovich has returned home as a European artiste. Her chief asset is a chilling mezzo that is the perfect instrument for lyrics such as "Bottled emotions/Breakable jam jars of hate/ Ready for action—poised to attack." Her vocal style is full of sonic squiggles on the end of lyrical phrases that sound like somebody is pinching her at surprise intervals during the recording session. She also seasons songs with a kind of nether-worldly scat of yelps, eeks, yeows, wowps and kkaks. Even when Lovich sings straight, her voice has a haunting timbre. She also has a marvelous sense of humor which is particularly apparent on Sister Video, a loose and lively parody of The Who's apocalyptic Sister Disco. With all of that and the fact that she can, and does, play the saxophone and trumpet, Lovich makes No-Man's Land awfully appealing.
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