NYLON - January 2009 - (Page 130) torch singer Maybe it was during the opening ukulele chords on “Across the Sea,” or the whistling solo on the closing track, “Heaven.” Or perhaps it was hearing her charming trumpet impersonation on “Everything Was Lost.” It’s hard to pinpoint when, exactly, but while listening to Samantha Shelton’s debut album, Are You Kidding Around?, the image of her as a songstress from another era popped into my head. DON’T CALL HER A THROWBACK. ALTHOUGH SAMANTHA SHELTON’S MUSIC PAYS HOMAGE TO THE GREATS OF ERAS PAST, IT’S STILL THOROUGHLY MODERN. BY CRYSTAL MEERS. PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEVIN ZACHER Which explains why, as I stood in line at, a coffee shop in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, I scanned the room for a young Hollywood chanteuse done up old Hollywood style; a modern day Rita Hayworth with a touch of June Carter Cash. “Yeah, I wake up in the morning and put on my smoking jacket, then lay on my chaise drinking brandy Sidecars all day,” says Shelton, hair: stephen mason for exclusive artists using redken. makeup: hiromi for exclusive artists using m.a.c. coat by mcginn, dress by kate moss for topshop, necklace and ring by ippolita 18k. who until now has been best known as one half of If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies!, the cabaret sensation she created with fellow actress-singer Zooey Deschanel. But dressed for the heat wave in a lightweight cotton button-down and shorts, Shelton is apparently a mere mortal after all. Raised in the once-small, dusty town of Eagle Rock, a stone’s-throw away from L.A.’s hip Eastside, by a folksinger mother and director father, Shelton seems to be one of those girls who was born to be a performer. “I never get nervous,” she says. “If you were to ask me to sing right now, I would do it.” A pause. “But don’t ask.” Early on, her experience harmonizing with her three sisters in the back of the family’s VW bus brought her to talent shows, followed by art schools, and finally led her to movie roles (ShopGirl and White Oleander), and television spots (Judging Amy and House). “I’m constantly looking for ways to express myself, so whatever [there is to do], I’m like, ‘Yes!’” Her latest form of self-expression is a full-length record and she has found a way in which, she says, “the many chapters of Samantha Shelton could come out.” An amalgamation of distinct influences, including country crooners Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris, jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Big Band swing, and music from the early 20th century, the highly stylized songs are all over the musical map. “I just let whatever flows through, flow through,” she says. And although Shelton penned everything on the album, she’s quick to share credit for its lush sound with her collaborators. “When I listen to it, I hear the other musicians.” Starting with producer Sam Farrar (Phantom Planet), an old friend of Shelton’s, the liner notes teem with familiar names: James Iha; Jason Schwartzman; and James Valentine (Maroon 5) among them. “It was just a thrill to hear them make the songs so much cooler than I had ever imagined,” Shelton says. Now Shelton plans to take her show on the road. “I’m feeling pretty adventurous,” she says. But what that will look like she’s not quite sure. “Since Pretty Babies, I’ve scaled back a bit,” she says, “not quite setting my hair in steam rollers, but I do have the ability to take a lot of risks right now. My friend was just saying that she wants me to go onstage in all ’60s mod one night and the next go out in an apron. Everyone will have to just come and to out.”
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