Styled By Sound

Although it takes second rung to the towering walls of amplifiers, there is no denying that style mirrors the musical journey of a band as much as the recorded output.

- Sam Lal

IN THE DEFENCE OF ALL THOSE WHO FIRMLY ADHERE TO THE “QUE Sera Sera” credo and sagely nod their heads every time they come across the Edgar Bergen quote—“hard work never killed a man, but why risk it?”—it must be stated that masterly inactivity does have its merits. It, amongst other things, leads to great scientific discoveries.

Think about it. Would the venerated Newton have let the apple fall on his head if he weren’t totally relaxed and doing absolutely nothing? Nope. Chances are he would have evaded the fruit and someone else would have come up with the absolutely fruity theory of gravity.

It was much the same when, finding time hanging dreadfully heavy, one started tripping on YouTube. Armed with the bright idea of taking in back-to-back videos of certain select artistes and zeroing in on Nelly Furtado, one was struck by those lightning-crashes ideas that come to folk when they aren’t really preoccupied. Legend has it that Archimedes was similarly inspired when chilling in the bath.

Anyhow, meandering back to the nub, there Nelly was in her long denim skirt, warbling about being exactly like a bird and looking for all the world as if Woodstock never really ended. Epitomising hippie chic, as it were. Cut to 2006 and Furtado does a gobsmacking volte face with her form fitting leather ensemble and a smouldering cover of the Hall & Oates classic, “Maneater.” It features the ubiquitous Timbaland for good measure too.