Sally Seltmann’s harmonies to my heartbeat

April 15, 2010, 2:30 pm
Filed under: Introducing... | Tags: australia, camera obscura, hello saferide, sally seltmann

Note – This entry was cross-posted from Pretty New Songs. Enjoy!

I was first exposed to Sally Seltmann through a recent Paste sampler I picked up at this year’sSXSW. Her catchy “Harmony to My Heartbeat” instantly got stuck in my head and I had to hear more, so I downloaded her album, “Heart That’s Pounding,” last weekend. I was not disappointed, as it’s a wonderful collection of sunny, 70s-influenced pop that will likely go down as one of my fave releases of this year.

I’ve read reviews that compared Sally to Camera Obscura, which is definitely accurate, but some of her lyrics in particular remind me of one of my favorite unknown (at least in this country) bands, Hello Saferide. If you know me you know I’m a sucker for great lyrics; a catchy melody is tops, sure, but for something to really move me it has to bring it lyrically. “Heart That’s Pounding” definitely does this, as Sally has a great way of mixing just the right amount of lightheartedness (“Get yourself out of bed, this is a new day today”) with introspection (“I’m shy and I do not want you to see my thoughts because they’re tangled in a web”).

Sadly, I completely missed Sally at SXSW, and given that she’s Australian I can’t imagine another opportunity to catch her live will come up any time soon. Keeping an eye on her dates just in case though. In the meantime, you should check out “… Pounding,” and get lost in her lovely video below, which totally makes me want to ditch work, throw a pool party, eat cake, and listen to beautiful music.