In a Seventeen interview, he cited Sara Bareilles as a clever singer-songwriter whom he looks up to.
Tom Teicholz: The writers you admire, their works are all somewhat different than their reputation: Kafka is more modern and more funny; Aleichem is a master of satire on the level of Mark Twain Babell is also funny and quite clever; and Singer is both funnier and darker, more macabre, than he is usually given credit for.
"We're so clever," the singers (here the mezzo-soprano Elspeth Davis and the baritone Vince Vincent) exclaim at one point.
Also occupying this territory is the clever and promising singer and songwriter Jerrod Niemann, who has a sense of humor Mr. Brice can't quite match.
The clever Egyptian-Canadian singer Ramriddlz, on his new EP "Venis," has melted down these styles to a sensual syrup, swirled with cheeky lyrics and hybridized slang.
HIGHLINE BALLROOM 431 W. 16th St. (212-414-5994) — July 2: The clever Italian pop singer and multi-instrumentalist Vinicio Capossela, who has a raspy voice and a rabid sense of humor, often changes costumes in performance and always constructs dramatic narratives that need no translation.
(Anderson) ★ Jens Lekman (Friday, Sunday and Monday) This clever baroque-pop singer-songwriter takes a holiday on "An Argument With Myself," his new single of tropicalia inflection and a wry dash of schizophrenia.
Bitingly sarcastic, hopping mad, and occasionally quite clever, the guitarist-singer has spent much of the last decade boiling with self-righteous anger in a couple of noisy Welsh post-hardcore bands.
At 7 p.m., MCU Park, 1904 Surf Avenue, near 17th Street, Brooklyn, kaskade.wantickets.com; $75. (Anderson) ★ Jens Lekman (Friday) The clever baroque-pop singer-songwriter takes a holiday on "An Argument With Myself," his most recent single of tropicalia inflection and a wry dash of schizophrenia.
This is all on purpose, of course, and it's a clever device: as the singer demands the audience's co-operation to make the show go on, we see her both as the monstrous showbiz diva hogging the spotlight, and as the shivering little match girl who will die if those around her refuse to help her.
But you'll have to really love the clever wordplay to overlook the singer's overly emphatic vocals.
