Sinister: sweet isobel?

[kaytee]

hello sinister,

You know, even though there's a lot of bands I like, there are about two
that I listen to all the time. People have been talking about lyrics versus
music... for me the important thing is the *way* the singer sings what they
sing (combined with the music of course). It's all about the personality
that comes through, and about feeling sure that the music is tapping into
something true and beautiful even if you can't quite pin it down. Or as Nick
said:

>Although I can't quite follow 'The Model' either, I'm convinced in that
>song that Stuart knows exactly what he's on about... The kind of lyrics I
>can't really interpret at all and yet which make perfect sense all the
>same.

Stuart's personality obviously shines through, both in his songs and in what
we've seen of the 'real life' him, and even if he makes mistakes now and
then he really has nothing to worry about as his intelligence and loveliness
seem so unshakeable (by the way does anyone else think we're lacking a word
for when you want to describe someone who's just great... 'nice' is
meaningless, 'cool' could just mean they're trendy, 'sound' perhaps comes
closest but is kind of naff? anyway).

And on the basis of this I can see why people have problems with Isobel -
she's more of a central presence than, say, Sarah, and so her personality
and style become an issue... and compared to Stuart she's kind of hard to
interpret. And I would have expected myself to be wary of her, or maybe even
to dislike her. But I think I do like her. The reason I've been moved to
write this is because I saw that 'The Gate' had nil points on Sam's vote
thing, and to me this song (and 'Is it Wicked Not to Care', and some - not
all, but some - of the Gentle Waves songs) have that same elusive hidden
meaning/beauty (lack of a word again) as some of Stuart's - more to me than
a song like 'Slow Graffiti', although I know many people like this a lot so
of course it's all down to personal preference. She gets it wrong sometimes
but I do think sometimes she gets it very right.

As for 'Family Tree', Nick (again) said something about "astonishingly
asinine" and "guilty pleasure"... why do you feel guilty Nick?! Don't forget
it's in character... and while Stuart's disenchanted schoolgirls usually
speak more knowingly through Stuart in the third person, maybe this time he
thought it would be fun to write something in a more simplistic style for
Isobel to sing in the first person.

But anyway you shouldn't listen to anything I say about hidden meanings - I
have to admit I didn't realise 'Ease Your Feet in the Sea' was about
suicide.

kaytee
x



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