Listen: Laura Doggett - "Phoenix" (prod. SOHN)

18 July 2014, 18:15 | Written by Maya Hambro

(Tracks)

(SOHN) (Laura Doggett)

Even given the seeming omniscience of the internet, there’s relatively little yet known about singer Laura Doggett. She’s somehow managed to appear fully formed from the ether, blowing any early bets about who’ll take the title of this year’s best new vocalist fresh out of the water with the casual brilliance of her first drop, the ground shakingly haunting “Phoenix”. With SOHN on production duties, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Thankfully for us, SOHN firmly establishes the song’s focus where it ought to be: on the stern, aloof vocal, mutating the clarity in Doggett’s voice with only the lightest touch of reverb, and interlacing her calls within themselves to create a stirring echo that churns with emotion. The rest is an understated testament to SOHN’s naturalistic minimalism. Building a fluttering, gasping rhythm from shattered piano samples and stuttering synths, he allows it to grow sporadically, killing the roar pre-crescendo, leaving space to loop Doggett’s conclusion: “Phonenix gonna rise from the ashes again.”

It’s rare to come across a singer who manages to sound so carelessly powerful and commanding, all the while maintaining a baseline of fierce sensuality - the only other example that comes to mind is Banks, (who Doggett has already been compared to). However in the event of such a talent, comparisons are only ever tedious, detracting from the undeniable uniqueness of both acts with the implicit suggestion of competition. Banks may be better known, but it’s clear Doggett is staking her claim to join the roster of dark pop doyennes. If she continues at this rate, it shouldn’t take her long to find her place amongst the greats.