British singers with American accents

[Pingfah]

^ Yeah, I was gonna mention her. It's a horrible put on, she doesn't even talk like that, at least not as thick an accent.

She's all style over substance IMO, i'm glad she has left the music industry in a childish huff about people downloading her music, she sucked and never deserved to make money in the first place.

 

[Deckerd]

There's a physiological reason for it. Someone touched on it upthread but it is a feature of singing that it requires an effort of will to keep your accent (Proclaimers anyone?). The natural human tendency is to flatten out and normalise all the sounds. This happens in any singing, not just contemporary music.

I should also point out that it's not really mimicking an American accent - that's just the closest approximation to the sound singers make. Any nation singing English will do the same thing.

Labi Siffre's stupendous Something Inside So Strong is a good example, since all the voices are very African but his singing is in this style - it would be more accurate to call it accent-less.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Now why does Amy MacDonald sing with a Scottish accent, but Sharleen Spiteri doesn't? Well, I guess if you're going to call your band "Texas", you ought to sound American even if you are from Bellshill.

 

[Deckerd]

I don't think McDonald does. She does the same as everyone else. As I said, you have to deliberately re-instate your accent, which 9 times out of 10 sounds naff.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

^ "MacDonald" sings with a distinctly non-American accent -- some have said that she sounds slightly Irish and a bit like Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries -- don't really hear that myself.

 

[Deckerd]

She certainly doesn't sound overtly Scottish.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

She does tae me.

ETA: Especially the way she pronounces the word "go" on "This is the Life".

 

[Deckerd]

It must be your ears. They have a paltry range.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

It must be your ears. They have a paltry range.

I think you mean "poultry" range.

 

[Deckerd]

I was going for the subtle pun but by all means stamp all over it with your big chicken feet.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Well, at least no one could accuse Adge Cutler and the Wurzels of sounding American -- Scrumpy and Western indeed.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

British singers with American accents

Not a problem Kate Nash seems to have...

Yeah, not loving that movement in the pop community, like Lily Allen. Just sounds rather juvenile to me. It doesn't help that they're not so much singing as much as they are talking in tones... A lot of talking

I believe Ian Dury made a career of doing exactly that.

 

[Deckerd]

But I got up between her
rum and her ribena

 

[Temis the Vorta]

There's a physiological reason for it. Someone touched on it upthread but it is a feature of singing that it requires an effort of will to keep your accent (Proclaimers anyone?). The natural human tendency is to flatten out and normalise all the sounds. This happens in any singing, not just contemporary music.

I should also point out that it's not really mimicking an American accent - that's just the closest approximation to the sound singers make. Any nation singing English will do the same thing.

Then it stands to reason that American singers should sound British to you - do they?

 

[Zachary Smith]

Here are the Beatles singing with all MANNER of British (and a few other) accents!

 

[Deckerd]

There's a physiological reason for it. Someone touched on it upthread but it is a feature of singing that it requires an effort of will to keep your accent (Proclaimers anyone?). The natural human tendency is to flatten out and normalise all the sounds. This happens in any singing, not just contemporary music.

I should also point out that it's not really mimicking an American accent - that's just the closest approximation to the sound singers make. Any nation singing English will do the same thing.

Then it stands to reason that American singers should sound British to you - do they?

No they sound as accentless as anyone else singing. Unless, as I say, they deliberately make themselves produce an accent.

 

[JonathonWally]

This sounds pretty "British" to my American ears.