Brassy singer
Niko was born to Japanese/Spanish parents, lives in Seattle but always ends up recording in England, and used to sing straight jazz before hooking up with the hip-hop/electronica/dance crew at Manchester, England's great Grand Central label. If that's a lot to take in, wait till you hear the brilliant
Life on Earth. Jazzy electro-funkers
Mark Rae,
Mr. Scruff, and
Aim provide the cool production while
Niko supplies the comely spark. Her vocal style is a great combo of free and driven. Dig her infectious scatting on "You're My Favourite Music" or her soulful yearning on "All I Do" and you've got
Amy Winehouse meets
N'Dea Davenport uptown. As ambitious as its title,
Life on Earth gives you a dizzying first listen, but the songwriting is there and the album is rich with attitude. Things go from nocturnal and gritty to bright and uplifting with ease, mostly due to
Niko's conviction and the rock-solid grooves. Electronics give way to acoustics and the album softens nicely toward the end, adding a nearly perfect arc to
Life on Earth's already long list of positives.