Sydney Wayser

Folk / Indie / Acoustic

New York, NY

Billboard

Intimate and playful, placid and serene. Melancholy and dark, with occasional hints of passing sadness. This is the sound of Sydney Wayser, a twenty year-old singer-songwriter who with her French father and American mother has lived her life between Paris and Los Angeles. Sydneys music is rife with tales and adventure; it quite simply draws you into her world, delicately. Her first album, entitled Silent Parade, showcases Sydneys elegant blend of strings, piano, guitar and percussion, that at once enraptures and brings you into her world where carousels turn with youthful exuberance, and love is questioned in lucid prose. It is the ode to simplicity and a nod to grace that truly defines the impact of Sydneys writing and voice. Theres a tranquil and frozen moment feel, reminiscent of a Modigliani portrait hatched in a small studio in Montparnasse. Time spent in Paris only ripened her desire to study the great painters, singers, and iconic figures of both worlds, and fed her mind and soul with a wealth of experience and vision with which to develop her music. A playful though somewhat introverted spirit, as a teenager she cultivated her passion for writing music and developed her intellect and vast interests, including ballet, film, and literature, later honing in on music as her true love. Place de la Bastille was inspired by the famous French film Amelie. Jean-Pierre Jeunet uses striking colors to create a repetitive pattern through the film. Occasionally he introduces light blue, a more subtle color to symbolize something significant, but hidden when blinded by the red and green. I thought this was an analog for finding some of lifes more crucial elements, buried amidst all the distraction of our days. There is a surface paradox at play here: Sydneys music is free and colorful and wide-eyed; recalling a young girl on Parisian side streets, in her mind conversing with the great artists and writers who once pounced on those same cobblestones. At the same time, she conveys a charm and wit well beyond her twenty years, and with an unusual command of language and phrasing. Silent Parade is a moving collection, showcasing a talented, young, and personable songwriter with a visceral offering of poetry and song that remarks on the beauty of innocence.