New York-based singer/songwriter Sylvia Black has received international attention for her time as the front woman of the electro-pop outfit K.U.D.U. and for her collaborations with The Black Eyed Peas, Moby, William Orbit, Kelis, Spank Rock, The Knocks and Telepopmusik, among others. And over the last couple of years, Sylvia Black has also received attention across the blogosphere writing, performing and recording under her alter ago, Betty Black. Interestingly, with her alter ego Betty Black, Sylvia Black’s material draws from garage rock, Southern gothic blues, Spaghetti Western soundtracks and atmospheric electronics while thematically the material explores love, lust, longing and obsession – and in a way that’s haunting.
Her latest single “Valley Low” features Black’s seductively breathy coos over ambient electronics, gently reverb-y Western-styled guitar and four-on-the-floor drumming. Sonically, it channels the moody electro-country/electro-folk of Daughn Gibson, but the song pulsates with an urgent, carnal desire as the song’s narrator manages to simultaneously cajole, plead and tease the object of her affection in a tantalizingly irresistible fashion. Honestly, this is probably one of the sexiest songs I’ve heard all year.
