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Spotlight

Basia Bulat

Who? Toronto-born chanteuse Basia Bulat began ticklingthe ivories at the early age of three, and also became skilled atplaying the autoharp, guitar, flute, and sax. The porcelain-facedblonde went on to spend time in both London, Ontario and Montreal,honing her vocal chops alongside her brother, Bobby, who also playsdrums in Bulat’s band. A self-released eponymous EP arrived in 2005,while shows with the likes of Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson, SondreLerche and Loney, Dear followed into the next year. Bulat’s major labelLP, Oh, My Darling, arrives stateside Feb. 5 via Rough Trade.

What’s the Deal? Oh, My Darling‘slucky thirteen tracks showcase Bulat’s soothing, throaty voice and herdead-on aptitude for poignant, classic songwriting. From gracefully sadto hopeful and joyous, she exudes an earthy, organic quality to themusic’s mystic, Phil Spector-like backbone. From the rollicking anduplifting nature of “In the Night” and “Before I Knew,” a hootenanny ofdelicate ukulele, handclaps and sunny harmonies to the wistful acousticplucks of “Little Waltz,” this angel voiced crooner simultaneouslybreaks and heals your cold, cold heart.

Fun Fact:Basia Bulat speaks French, Spanish and Polish. “The way I practicedthose languages was by listening to music,” Bulat tells SPIN.com. “Ilistened to a lot of Jacques Brel, and a friend of mine gave me somerecords of Quebec “chansons” (French for “songs”) to help me practicemy French. My Spanish teachers told me to seek out Violeta Parra andSilvio Rodriguez, as well as Joan Manuel Serrat.”

Now Hear This:
Basia Bulat – “In the Night” DOWNLOAD MP3

On the Web:
Basia Bulat at MySpace
basiabulat.com

Talk: Basia Bulat, the new critic’s ‘darling’?