What's the best thing to do when you're a singer-songwriter struggling to push the same old MOR pap? Why, scrap that direction and start afresh, like Martina Sorbara did in 2005 after years of going unnoticed. Despite working with big indies like MapleMusic and Nettwerk, the daughter of Ontario's Minister of Finance, Greg Sorbara, joined her husband Dan Kurtz of the New Deal (along with two other musicians) and formed an extra glossy electro pop band under the name Dragonette. It seems to have paid off for the singer too, as she was chosen to sing on Basement Jaxx's "Take Me Back To Your House." Additionally, her new band just finished a tour with Sugababes, were able to commission Modular artist Van She to do a remix and have become the new favourite band of scandalous blogger Perez Hilton. Okay, that last one's not much of an accomplishment, but this hot first single from their forthcoming album packs a wallop that could line up anywhere next to Robyn, Gwen Stefani, or even new wave muggers like Metric thanks to a generous layer of guitars. It's tough to say where this belongs here in North America, but the bubblegum hooks and highly stylised looks of the band are sure to find them a huge audience in Europe where acts like this thrive justly.
Dragonette "I Get Around"
Dragonette "I Get Around"