With a voice like velvet, what’s not to love about SIANNA LEE? Her new album, Phoenix Propeller, “tastes like sardines – either really your thing, or really not.” Well ladies and gentlemen, Sianna Lee really should be your thing, if she isn’t already. Inspired by other women, her sound is oh so sweet, rich, strong and feminine (but never cute). Her album cover is an image of her seated in a trapeze wearing a black and white boy-leg leotard; her eyes are focussed on the viewer, daring us to come closer. “I had a lot of creative control over the album and album art,” she says. “I had visions of playing with hula hoops in the sea with a storm crashing overhead.”
Sianna’s femininity comes through in her style. She feels she sounds “like a lot of women who have gone before me. Most of the people who have influenced me, I hope, [their sound is] not that easy to pick up… I hope I sound good, I hope I have put something of my own in it. When people ask me [what I sound like], I tend to say ‘good.’”
Formerly of Love Outside Andromeda, Sianna says 2006 was the time for the band to break up. “Everything has a lifespan and a timeframe… when you’re in a band that is doing quite well, it can take over your entire life but there are other parts of your life and personality that need attention. You’ve got to feel like you have something to express.”
Her album explores experiences and feelings through water imagery in her lyrics and photographs. The darker side of her personality is revealed. “I think that there are people who have different dispositions. I am the half empty glass over glass half full.”
Unique and creative, Sianna’s music is intuitive and honest. “I like to experiment with song structure,” she explains. “I deal with it in an intuitive way. I listen to it myself and decide where it should go. With this album, I don’t feel there is a chorus or verse.” Her lyrics and music go hand in hand, breaking away from the conventions where music supports lyrics. “I wrote the lyrics to be said. If I don’t think it goes there then I don’t put it in.”
It is evident Sianna simply loves to sing. “It makes me happy. I love to sing, I love to hear it bounce off walls or tiles or reverberated spaces. It feels like breathing. That’s when I like the sound of it the most.” Her voice is bolder, stronger and refreshing yet still graceful and elegant.
From Melbourne, Sianna Lee’s music is deeply connected with her lyrics that come from within. “I think what I’ve tried to do is live an honest life,” she says. “Honesty is what I always find interesting in people. It is what I like to do with my songs; convey something personal that is not fabricated.”
Sianna Lee will play The Front Gallery and Café on Sunday May 23.
