Mar. 17, 2010 - Issue #752: Enomatic system

Prevue

A different Starr

The title of Kinnie Starr's latest album, A Different Day, is also an apt one for her career at this point. Known as a groundbreaking electronic and hip-hop artist, her fifth album is a departure: it's a collection of scaled-down lyrics and gorgeous acoustic arrangements that couldn't be farther from the bravado and posturing of your average rap artist. Having just returned from a series of shows backed only by a string quartet, Starr is refreshed, energized and at her outspoken best.

"The shows I played recently with Borealis String Quartet were some of the best shows I've played in the last five to eight years," she states. "It was fresh for me. It's new."

As a versatile artist with a visual-arts background, Starr continues to search for inspiration. And while she concedes she's still interested in hip hop, she had to take a break from it.

"The focus of the new record was to make a record that was free of bling, glitz, overproduction, hip hop. No extra languages, no flash, no loop stations. I needed to return to that feeling that I used to have when I was just starting to make music, where it was all art," she reveals. "I really needed to revisit that, because I was like, 'Fuck, I'm gonna kill myself if I see another artist who's fashion-first, with all their gear and shit that's covering up the fact they can't play an instrument.

"So I pulled back from that with this record, and it really helped me remember the craft of songwriting," she offers. "I don't feel like I've written my best song yet, but I feel like I'm right on the edge of it."

This is a stunning confession, coming from Starr, who has arrived as an icon to a whole new generation of Canadian talent, from Tegan and Sara to Nelly Furtado. And while she shyly admits she's only just starting to get comfortable as a musician, she sees her accolades and influence as an exciting, if humbling, part of her development.

"It's been very flattering to see people doing similar things that I do," she admits. "It's a lot of younger kids that are just discovering music and have a lot of energy for it. They're lapping me, teaching me shit too. I see them using gear and styles that I was part of a founding group of musicians who started that wave, but I see them using the tools better, so it's like I'm learning from them what they learnt from me. It's a cool exchange." V

Sun, Mar 21 (8 pm)
Kinnie Starr
With Jay Malinowski, Michael Rault
Pawn Shop, $14

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