Teddy Sinclair (fka Natalia Kills) is killing it with her new project Cruel Youth. The all-female three-piece band fronted by Sinclair and co-produced by her husband, Willy Moon, was a smash hit last Thursday at The Echo in Los Angeles. The show was sold-out, with rising pop star KIIARA headlining the evening — but Cruel Youth definitely pulled some serious weight filling the room. Let’s just put it this way, even with KIIARA’s heavy support of friends, family and “industry,” Cruel Youth stole the show.
With an exquisite track record, consisting of co-written songs for Rihanna, Madonna, Alicia Keys, and many more – Cruel Youth dazzled The Echo, enamoring new and old fans of Sinclair. Considering Sinclair has worked wonders for so many other artists, it was nice to see her ruling the spotlight.
With writing chops all her own, Sinclair displays true emotion and passion through her songs that describe her painful past. As a live performance, Cruel Youth is no frills, no sugary pop anecdotes, no obsessive amounts of auto-tune — just pure dizzying lullabies full of r&b flavor and smokey beats. Oh, and that voice! The woman’s got some serious vocal swagger. You know an artist is legit when they perform live and surpass the capacity of their recorded studio album.
KIIARA headlined the evening with a very produced pop performance full of lots of auto-tune (watch here). On recording, her six-song debut EP,*low kii savage,*is drenched with audio magic, addicting hooks and that same electronic pop sound we’ve heard from many artists. It’s a fun listen, especially for your average iHeartRadio-addicted listener, but there’s nothing unique to it.
Hopefully with some proper notches under her touring belt, we’ll get a better feel for KIIARA’s vocals and live show; but right now, her excessive use of auto-tune and other filters is taking away from her live performance. We just don’t what them “Feels” are truly about.
tho
She would still deserve all the accolades regardless of whether her tour mates are trash or not 