Lovestarrs
Sazzie | |
---|---|
![]() Sazzie with Lovestarrs in 2014 | |
Background information | |
Origin | Highclere, Hampshire, England |
Genres | Synthpop |
Years active | 2008–present |
Labels | Regal, Parlophone, Astralwerks |
Website | www |
Members | Sarah McIntosh |
Past members | Hamish McIntosh George Hinton |
Sazzie (formerly known as The Good Natured and Lovestarrs) is an English synthpop solo act, consisting of Sarah McIntosh (born January 1991[1] in Highclere, Hampshire)[2] on vocals and keyboards, and formerly her brother Hamish McIntosh on bass and George Hinton (with whom Sarah became acquainted at university)[3] on drums.
Career[]
2008–2011: Career beginnings, Warriors and Your Body Is A Machine[]
Sarah began playing the violin as a child, but felt it was not the right instrument for her, so she turned towards playing the drums.[4][5] She also sang in a choir when she was a child.[6] At the age of 14 she salvaged an old Yamaha keyboard while spring cleaning her grandmother's house.[4][5] She taught herself to play the keys and at age 15 began to write her first own songs and founded a band with her brother Hamish.[7] Later she went to university to study music, but found that both studying and pursuing her musical career was unmanageable. She therefore decided to drop out from university and concentrate on her own music.[8]
After attracting thousands of listeners with their first song, "Our Very Last", The Good Natured self-released their debut EP Warriors on 7 July 2008.[9][10] The EP received a lot of press coverage, especially for the lyrics. Their second EP Your Body Is a Machine was released independently as well on 13 September 2009.[6][11]
2011–2012: Parlophone, Skeleton and 5-HT[]
In March 2011, The Good Natured signed a deal with Regal Recordings and Parlophone, under which they released their EP Skeleton on 20 June 2011.[12][13] The lead track, "Skeleton" peaked at No. 68 on the German singles top 100.[14] They also signed to Astralwerks in the United States, where they made their debut with the release of Skeleton on 11 October 2011.[15] On 9 December 2012, The Good Natured released their debut single, 5-HT with an accompanying music video.[16] The song failed to make an impact on any major charts. Also in 2012, The Good Natured and Vince Clarke released the song Ghost Train as a free download.[17]
On 28 March 2013, the band announced that their debut album would be titled Prism.[18] However, on 25 July 2013, the group announced via their Facebook account that they had been dropped from their label a few months earlier, and had spent the ensuing time in an unsuccessful effort to get the masters back so that they could self-release the album. They also stated that the band's final show would be at the Temple of Boom stage at the Secret Garden Party that same month.[19][20]
2014–2017: Lovestarrs, Get Your Sexy On, Supernova, new EPs, and a debut album[]
On 4 December 2013, they announced on their Facebook page that they will return in 2014 "in a new shape and form".[21] In January 2014, they announced via their Facebook page that they had changed their name to Lovestarrs.
On 31 March 2014, Lovestarrs released their debut single, "Get Your Sexy On".[22] The single received very positive reviews, especially from The Guardian [23] who described the song as "excellent". In September 2014 under their new name, Lovestarrs self-released their first EP, Supernova. In support of this, they played shows in England and Sweden.[24]
On 12 October 2015, Lovestarrs began a Kickstarter campaign to fund production costs of two upcoming EPs and an album, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, and Planet Lovestarr, respectively, all set for release in 2016. Sarah stated that this was being done so as to retain ownership of their music and enable them to license and release it through their new label DEFDISCO to avoid the issues that they had with Parlophone/EMI. The campaign was successful with 107% of their goal reached.[25]
2017 – present: Sazzie[]
On 3 July 2017, Sarah posted on Facebook announcing a rebranding of Lovestarrs, becoming a solo act.[26] On 22 July 2017, Sarah announced her new name to be "Sazzie".[26] She released her first song as Sazzie on 31 July 2017 to YouTube; a cover of Kesha's song "Praying".[27]
Influences[]
The Good Natured was compared to La Roux,[28][29] Ladytron,[2][4] Lily Allen[2][10] and Kate Nash.[2][28] Sarah herself described The Good Natured as "dark electronic pop"[6] as well as "electronic pop with heart",[5] citing bands such as Tears for Fears, Japan, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Vince Clarke (from Depeche Mode, Yazoo & Erasure) as influences.[29]
Sarah stated that she is influenced by Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Gwen Stefani when it comes to Lovestarrs.[30]
Discography[]
Albums[]
- Prism (as The Good Natured) (unreleased)
- Planet Lovestarr (2017)
Extended plays[]
- Warriors (2008)
- Your Body Is a Machine (2009)
- Skeleton (2011)
- Supernova (2014)
- Get Your Sexy On (2016)
- Somebody Like You (2016)
Singles[]
- Be My Animal (2010)
- Skeleton (2011)
- Video Voyeur (2011)
- Christmas Wrapping (with Colette Carr) (2012)[31]
- 5-HT (2013)[32]
- Lovers (2013)
- Get Your Sexy On (2014)
- Stupid Cupid (2014)
- Ex Lover (2014)
- Do You Work Out? (feat. Mix Master Mike) (2018)
References[]
- ^ Haim, Daniel (3 February 2011). "UK Sensation The Good Natured Set to Release Be My Animal in the US". Bloginity.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
... Sarah McIntosh was just 19 years old (she turned 20 last week).
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Lester, Paul (25 February 2009). "New band of the day – No 493: The Good Natured". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ Voerding, Brian (28 February 2011). "The Good Natured Drop Out to Tune In – Top 100 Acts at SXSW 2011". Spinner. AOL. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Strange, Francesca (4 May 2010). "The Good Natured : Interview". For The Record. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Von Pip, Andy (2 June 2010). "Fire And Ice-The Good Natured Interview". The Von Pip Musical Express. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Harrison, Suzy (2010). "Push to Fire Interview: The Good Natured". Push to Fire. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ Cypherle, Jacob (7 February 2011). "Interview with The Good Natured and OOTD". Chromatist. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ Hollywood Q (15 October 2010). "Maroon Cafe Exclusive….. Interview with The Good Natured". The Maroon Cafe. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ "Warriors – EP by The Good Natured". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Aarong, David (13 May 2010). "The Good Natured – Your Body is a Machine". Audio Drums. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ "Your Body Is a Machine – EP by The Good Natured". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ "THE GOOD NATURED – SKELETON EP". Parlophone. 27 April 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ "Some good news (and a good song) from The Good Natured". Popjustice. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ "Skeleton by The Good Natured - Music Charts". Acharts.co.
- ^ "Introducing The Good Natured". Astralwerks. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ "The Good Natured - 5-HT [Official Music Video]". YouTube.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ O'Mance, Brad (28 March 2013). "The Good Natured's debut album now has a title". Popjustice. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ The Good Natured (25 July 2013). "Timeline Photos". Facebook. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ "Secret Garden Party Announces Line-up Additions Plus Headliner Regina Spektor For 25th – 28th July 2013". Contactmusic.com. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ "Coming back stronger than ever next year in a... – The Good Natured".
- ^ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/get-your-sexy-on-single/id815081505
- ^ Cragg, Michael (6 February 2014). "Lovestarrs – Get Your Sexy On: New music". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "Log In or Sign Up to View". Facebook.com.
- ^ "Lovestarrs - 2 EPs + Debut Album". Kickstarter.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Sazzie". Facebook.com.
- ^ "YouTube". Youtube.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Butcher, Simon (12 October 2010). "The Good Natured – Be My Animal". Q. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Preece, Rachel (27 June 2010). "The Good Natured : Interview". Matchless Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ "An Interview With The British Pop Group, Lovestarrs, Whose Motto, "Follow Your Heart And Aim For The Stars", Keeps Them Motivated and Inspired!". Music.allaccess.com.
- ^ "Christmas Wrapping – Single by The Good Natured & Colette Carr". iTunes Store US. Apple. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ "5-Ht – Ep by The Good Natured". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
External links[]
- Astralwerks artists
- English synth-pop groups
- Musical groups established in 2008
- British musical trios
- Parlophone artists