(Alternative, Indie Folk, Acoustic Pop) Soko - I Thought I Was an Alien - 2012, MP3, 320 kbps

Stéphanie (Soko) Sokolinski is a César-nominated French actress who had a minor hit in 2007 before announcing that she was “dead” as a musician.
Now “reborn”, any reservations you might have about her debut album are scuppered at the start as she whispers: “You will discover me through my songs…/ Hear all the cracks and the lack of talent/ And I hope that you don’t hate me by then.” Think Daniel Johnston with experience in place of innocence. Touching and strangely beautiful.
Soko started recording in her bedroom, just a girl with an acoustic guitar and GarageBand. But her debut album, recorded with Elliott Smith collaborator Fritz Michaud, looks beyond such puppy-eyed whining. The likes of ‘For Marion’ and ‘I Just Want To Make New With You’ have a knack for making sadness sound sweet, and sweetness sad; and while there are clichés here that love songs struggle to escape from, ‘I Thought I Was An Alien’ dumps twee cold and hard, running into pop’s warm embrace.