In my gay opinion, it’s hard to find new musical divas to follow when radio stations play the same music by the same artists all the time. Every so often on Twitter an artist will randomly follow me and I’ll get an automated DM (“direct message” for those not familiar with twitology) asking me to check out their music. That happened to me the other day when I was followed by Shayna Leigh. This weekend I had some free time so I checked out one of her YouTube videos. It impressed me enough that I watched a few others, which led me to download her album, and to write this post. Usually I blog about new releases, although Drive came out last year, it’s still new to me.
The first video of hers that I watched was “Goodbye July” which is a mix of country and pop. I don’t mind a little bit country but I prefer a little bit rock and roll…as Donny and Marie would say. I needn’t worry because Drive is plenty of pop. I like when a diva can have her own style but still pay tribute to other pop divas. Shayna does this perfectly. I would describe her voice as Alanis Morissette-esque if Alanis were born in America, raised in a trailer park, and honed her skills in a cover band. On “Drive” she’s like Alanis ala Taylor Swift, “Typhoon” sounds like a Miley Cyrus hit, and “Dirty Laundry” (my favorite song on the album) is full-on Katy Perry.
Shayna covers the gamut of musical styles on this album besides just the radio friendly and countryish pop. “Paradise Lost” and “Last Criminal” are beautiful ballads. “Next To You” feels like old school Doo-Wop that encourages the listener to make their own rules and do what they want to do-ta-do-ta-do-do. Shayna’s beats got me moving and lyrically the songs are meaningful and fun. On “Now Thing” she sings about taking advantage of the time you have and “Tiny Boxes” insightfully suggests having your act together before you can be there for someone else. Drive snuggles perfectly into my music collection and Shayna mingles well the other diva’s I adore.
I’ve learned that I never know where or how I’ll discover a new diva. I’m completely open minded when it comes to listening to new music but I’m selective in what I like. So if there’s any indie divas out there (or if anyone has any recommendations) I’m all ears (pun intended). As for you male singers, I’ll give your music a listen, maybe give you a shout out on Twitter, follow you back if you’re cute (I love my eye candy), but I’m a musical chauvinist pig and only have room on my iPod for the ladies.
