'Lineage'
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
It's only vaguely for me, and only when he's belting. I think they have somewhat similar upper registers. When he's just singing, he doesn't sound like Sting at all.
Musically, he reminds me more of Florence. They have kind of similar musical sensibilities -- Unusual instrumentation, an ethereal quality, but with the ability to belt it and sometimes go big on the bombast.
It's only vaguely for me, and only when he's belting. I think they have somewhat similar upper registers. When he's just singing, he doesn't sound like Sting at all.
Heh. Am still listening to Making Mirrors. While reading this, I heard exactly what you're talking about.
The female performer on "Somebody I Used To Know" is NZ singer Kimbra. An example of her work, "Settle Down": [link]
Also, in watching the video, they kinda sorta have similar mouths. Like, there's a bit of a sneer-like curl to the upper lip, and a wide, open mouth when singing out. Mouth shape has a big effect on vocal sound. Whenever singers sound alike in any way, I'm always curious how similar their mouth shapes are when they sing.
I also suspect Gotye and Sting breathe in a similar way when belting. They keys to impersonating other singers are mouth shape, how you breathe the song, and where in your throat, chest and mouth cavity you're resonating.
bt, I just watched that Kimbra video following a link from the YouTube End-Clip-Mural and really enjoyed it. I was wondering where she was from.
Gotye also kicks ass at a pub trivia night: [link]
I love that her voice in the song exists primarily to destroy the romanticism of his memories. I also love that the second time he sings "but you didn't have to cut me off," he's interrupting her to shut out her accusations.
I am also on the love trains for Gotye and Kimbra. They toured together a bit here in the States in the last few weeks, and she was at SXSW.
Is it wrong that I think I like the Glee version of "Somebody That I Used to Know" better than the Gotye version?
I like the harmonies better with the Glee version.