Sarah Atereth incorporates Big Apple rhythm into her dance numbers
As a dancer, singer and songwriter, New York artist Sarah Atereth is used to having her hands full. It’s surprising that she has the time at all to poignantly pose this question on the first track of her debut album “Beguile”: “Shall we dance?”
As a musical composition, “Beguile” will likely ask the same question of you. The album boasts a selection of various moods and forms. How is Atereth different from all the other pop princesses being produced today? This classically trained dancer and former Juilliard student wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, and also shares a co-producer credit. The diversity of her artistic experience speaks through the multiplicity of her musical voice.
Her vocals lend a subtle lilt to each song, making the words themselves gently dance. Some of her slower and more passionate tracks such as “What Price Glory” and “Big Wheels” teem with organic emotion that, while reminding some listeners of singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, will force others to reach for the next track button.
Nevertheless, Atereth doesn’t disappoint. More beat-driven tracks like “Out of My Mind” and “You Wouldn’t Know How” could likely become staples of the house music scene. But when she drops the sentimentality, Atereth puts a cultured and cosmopolitan face on that raunchy and often indiscriminate world. The surrealistic lyrics on the sassy songstress’s album are perfect for the dark corners of the gay house scene—“You sail the star/ you drink the dark/ you wouldn’t know how…”
And she isn’t stopping there. At a release party last week held at Morgan’s Bar in Midtown, Atereth released an EP featuring remixes of her single “You Wouldn’t Know How” by local DJs MacQ Dr. Octavo, and Davy D. This mix isn’t just making waves in New York City. Remixes of her songs have afforded her modest success across the country, earning her spots on play lists from Boston to L.A.
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