Beth Ditto- who should be praised for having such an eclectic playlist on 6Music – hit a bum note this morning when playing Candy by Ravyn Lenae. It gives me the ick.
I don’t mind idiosyncratic voices, obviously. I like Bjork, although her pixie nonsense was often pretty annoying in the nineties. Alison Shaw, Claire Grogan and Grimes, AKA Claire Boucher, all have helium light, quirky high-pitched voices. So too does Satomi from Deerhoof. They’re all great. It’s the breathy, “sexy” child voices I can’t stomach.
I’ve heard other songs by Lenae and I get that she has a range. I understand that voices work like instruments, exploring the gamut of possibilities. It’s just when a childlike voice is affected, in order to be slinky, I’m reminded of Mae Questel and her problematic cartoon character, Betty Boop, the teenage singer who was always getting assaulted by predatory older men.
It perpetuates stereotypes and I’d really like an end to it, particularly in the current climate we’re in, with violent assaults on children increasing, and the heat around unreleased Epstein files. Please stop with the “sexy child” nonsense. It’s horrible.
Hit The North 