Cool Hunting

Currently making quite a murmur on the London music scene is Tallulah Rendall. This singer-songwriter has been quietly honing her craft over the past few years, playing the odd festival here and there, but it wasn't until she was invited by the legendary Shirley Bassey to sing at her 70th birthday party last year that things really started to take off. Last week Tallulah wowed a crowd at the Soho Revue Bar with a showcase gig that pre-empts the release of her self-penned debut album. Entitled Libellus, the album was produced by Marius de Vries, whose previous collaborators include Madonna, Bjork and Massive Attack.

Tallulah finds herself in fine company, but it has taken some grit and determination to get here. Not wanting to be pigeonholed by a record company as one of the new Brit pop starlets she found the funding to set up her own record label, Transducer Records, to maintain creative control over the recording of her album. This independent spirit is clearly audible in her music which flows between her soft clear voice and some properly down and dirty guitar riffs. More towards PJ Harvey's emotive tales than Lily Allen's witty pop jibes, look out for Tallulah's soon to be released album Libellus. In the meantime have a taste with the Libellus EP available on her MySpace page.