Little Boots
Words by Dan Jude
When you’re a pint-sized starlet making cutting-edge electro-pop that’s got everyone talking, the comparisons are going to be inevitable. And no, we’re not talking about Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor. ‘Of course I’m used to the Kylie comparisons, but I don’t mind at all – I think Kylie’s great. I grew up on Kylie!’ At 5 foot no inches, the girl who goes by the moniker Little Boots shares a lot more with her idol than not getting on the rides at Thorpe Park - like Miss Minogue she too has a staggering lungs-to-voice ratio. In other words, she may be miniscule, but boy can this girl sing.
In the real world, Little Boots is one Victoria Hesketh, a classically trained pianist from Blackpool, but when she picks up a microphone she transforms into an unstoppable electro-pop princess. Unlike so many of the constant stream of run-of-the-mill-a-little-bit-zany-middle-of-the-road electro-pop artists popping off the conveyor belt, Little Boots sets herself apart from the rest of the field by making songs that are at once quirky and off-kilter, and at the same time strongly melody-led. There’s a lot of substance behind the style. ‘I’ve always just been melody obsessed’ she utters softly. ‘I love melody choruses, and that’s what I’m best at. ’
Listen to debut track ‘Meddle’ and it sounds like Debbie Harry being remixed by Justice in Kraftwerk’s smoke-filled underground bunker in Berlin. Dirty beats, hook-laden pop melodies and synth-led electronic broodiness integrate to make the sort of head-nodding magic that Timbaland used to produce before he started working with 68 year-olds like Madonna. Stick on single ‘Stuck on Repeat’ and it will be just that. Little Boots is, like all great pop artists, catchy as fuck - once she gets in to your head, you’ll have to smash your own skull in to get her out.
Given the hype, you might be surprised to learn that Victoria has been on the music scene for quite some time. Formerly of all-girl indie-pop outfit Dead Disco, it’s only since she’s gone it alone that the creative juices have really started flowing. ‘Going solo is just really lush. I feel I can be myself now, I don’t have to try to be anything else any more’ she insists, breathing an audible sigh of relief. ‘I can just be myself now and be true to myself, which is really easy.’
Little Boots may well be little right now, but she knows she’s got some big boots to fill, and after working with Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard on her debut single ‘Meddle’ she’s all too aware that expectations are huge. ‘It was really exciting working with Joe - he’s just very original and I don’t think anyone else sounds like him. He doesn’t really produce anyone else so I think it’s really good that no one else has really got that far.’ So there you have it. The Hot Chip stamp of approval. And with an album in the offing for the new year, the future is looking bright for this young star. ‘For the album I’ve just tried to write some really big songs that I hope will connect to loads of different people in loads of different ways’ she says humbly. ‘It’s just me really and I’ve tried to put as much of myself into it as possible because that’s what it is.’ Little Boots. Big heart. Massive future.
http://www.myspace.com/littlebootsmusic
Posted Thu, December 04, 2008
Comments on Little Boots
Little Boots has a cool voice, and she can sing and write, ‘Meddle’ is pretty cool.
FYI - all her videos are on her YouTube channel, check it out www.youtube.com/user/littlebootsvideos
Posted by: Peter | 08/12/2008 at 08:41